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Vol*    Vllo  The  Glory  of  God  is  Intelligence.  No.     9. 

IMPROVEMENT 
ERA. 

Organ   of  Young  Men's  Mutual  Improvement  Associations. 

PUBLISHED  BY  TBB  GENEIRAL  BOARD. 

JosBPH  F.  Smith,         NwdUom  Hbbbh  J.  Grant.  ;    Business 

Edw.  H.  ANDBKSOif,    (    »"»•■"»■•  Thos.  HULL,  j       Managers. 

Sintered  at  the  Poet  Office,  Sale  Lake  City,  Utah,  as  Second  Glass  Matter. 

JULY,  1904. 

TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

Portrait  cf  Governor  Stephen  S.  Harding Frontispiece 

Was  the  Declaration  of  Independence  a  Heaven- 
ly Inspiration? Elder  Joseph  E.  Taylor  641 

A  Dream.     A  Poem W.  S.  Phillips  646 

Converted  by  Signs Walter  M.  Wolfe  647 

To  Man.    A  Poem James  Nielsen  653 

The  Bible  Frederic  Clift,M.D.  654 

The  Baby's  Lesson 664 

Adventures  of  a  Pioneer.     Ill  Hon.  John  M.  Horner  665 

An   Experience David  B.  Anderson  673 

The  Prophesied  Exodus.    A  Poem  Henry  E.  Home  674 

Talks  to  Young  Men.     IX — Choosing  a  Vocation  676 

Suggestive  Thoughts  for  the  Mildly  Skeptical Dr.  J.  X.  Allen  680 

A  Trip  to  Cuba Dr.  Joseph  M.  Tanner  684 

Does  an  Education  Pay? Success  687 

Sunlight.     A  Poem T.E.Curtis  688 

Radium Dr.  James  E.  Talmage  689 

His  Mother.    A  Poem Grace  Ingles  Frost  698 

Joseph  Smith  as  Scientist.    IX Dr.  John  A.  Widtsoe  699 

Some  Leading  Events  in  the  Current  Story  of  the 
World— Progress  of  the  War— The  Battle  of 
Nan  Shan  Hill— Senator  Quay — Perdicaris 
Kidnapped  —  A  New  Canadian  Transconti- 
nental Railway — Postal  War  on  Patent  Medi- 
cines—Colorado's Troubles Dr.J.M.  Tanner  706 

Editor's  Table— Rest  for  the  Peaceful  Followers 

of  Christ President  Joseph  F.  Smith       714 

Annual  Conference  of  the  Mutual  Improve- 
ment Associations— A  Talk  to  Graduates — 
Governoi  Harding— Radium — Two  Books  on 

Utah 718 

In  Lighter  Mood 726 

Our  Work— M.  I.  A.  Work  in  England— Flourish- 
ing Norwegian  M.  I.  A.— New  Superintend- 
ent Chosen 727 

Events  of  the  Month 730 


SALT  LAKE  CITY: 

214  ^  215  TEMPLETQN  BUILDING. 

Published  Monthly.  $2.00  Per  Annum 


Keep  IHoney  at  Home 


By  Insairing 
in  the 


Don't 
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HOME 
FIRE 

or  UTAH 

HeDer  J.  Grant  &  Go. 

GENERAL  AGENTS. 

20-2€  S9uth  Mam  St..  tali  Lake  My.  Utmt 


mi  C.  ItCLIII.  Pnii.    mo  T.  BURTN,  %».    N>  i.  lURTN,  Tritt 

BUf^TON  COAlk 
-HO  l0]«BEH  CO. 


ALL  KINDS 
OF 


GOAL 


ALL  KINDS  OF  LUMBER 

Wholesale  and  Retail. 

LUMBER   IN  CAR   LOTS  A  SPECIALH. 

Office,  60  W.  Second  Sotrtli  Street. 

Yards,  Cor.  Fifth  Sooth  and  Third  West  Stk 

Telephone  808. 


THH. 


STATE  BflM  OF  UTAH 

Aeeounts  Solielted. 
Covvespondene*  Invited* 

OFFICBR8  AND  DIRBCTOB8. 

Joseph  F.  Smith,  President. 

Wm.  6.  Preston,  Vice-President. 

Charles  S.  Burton,  Cashier. 

Henry  T.  McEwan,  Asst.  Cashier. 
Heber  J.  Grant  Job.  D.  Mnrdock 

A.  W.  Carlson  .  Heber  M,  Wells 

Byron  Groo  Isaac  Barton 


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SniiTfllR  BEflCH 

Jl^e   (greatest  ai^d   (jraQdest   pauiiioi}   ii^   tl^e  doited    States. 

Jl?(?   F"P<?st  salt  U/ater  Batl^irj^   i^esort  Iq   tl?^  U/orld. 

Jl?e  Car§(?5t  ai?d  pi^est  Dai^eii}^  ploor  ip  pmeriea. 


2o0  bath  bonsea  built  this  year  In  deep  water. 


New  hardwood  floor  juet  laid  on  the  dancing  pavilion. 


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NO! 


iAZE    DON'T 


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ifl^E    SELL.    THE7VT. 

$  $  $ 

DflYHES  &  f^OlWHEY  PiflflO  GO, 


TH©     7U^0N©Y-BK0K:     F'eOF=>L-E. 


40-50  Richards  Street. 


Salt  Lake  City. 


1=  .o.  :bo2c  "w. 


MISSIONARIES 

should  write  to 
pr  call  on  the 

SALT  LAKE  KNITTING  WORKS 

for  their 
HOSIERY.  UNDERWEAR  AND  "GARMENTS" 

before  leaving  for 
their  fields  ot  labor. 


We  havs  a  full  line  of 

WHITE  SHIRTS.  HOSIERY,  NECKWEAR 

9ir  Specialty  is  KNITTED  "6ARMENTS." 

We  have  them  in  Cotton  from  $1.00  up 
and  in  Wool  from  $1.75  up. 

ORDBR     BV     2B(RIL<     PROTBC     US. 

'  When  ordering  "Garments"  send  your 
iieight,  weight,  chest  measure  and  length  of 
«Ieeye  to 

Salt  Lake  Knitting  Works, 

Salt  liak*  City,  Utah 
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DIKECTOKS: 

Joseph  F.  Smith,  President. 
Budger  Clawson,  Vice-President. 
Thomas  hull. 
Josepb  Kelson, 
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John  T.  Caine 
Angus  M.  Cannon 
Francis  M.  Lyman 
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L.  John  Notttkl] 
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^  "^ 


GOVERNOR  STEPHEN  S.  HARDING. 
1862-3. 


IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 


Vol.  VII.  JULY,  1904.  No.  3. 


WAS  THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE 
A  HEAVENLY   INSPIRATION? 

BY   ELDER   JOSEPH  E.   TAYLOR,   SALT   LAKE   CITY,   UTAH. 


From  a  "Mormon"  standpoint,  we  answer  most  emphatically 
in  the  affirmative. 

In  arriving  at  this  conclusion,  we  have  gone  back  to  the  very- 
earliest  history  of  the  land  of  America,  and  considered  the  par- 
poses  of  our  Father  concerning  this  land,  and  also  traced  his  pecu- 
liar providence  in  relation  thereto. 

It  is  with  reluctance  that  the  historian  of  our  day  goes  back 
only  as  far  as  the  year  986  A.  D.,  and  gives  a  somewhat  doubtful 
credit  to  Herjulf son  as  being  the  first  to  discern,  by  accident,  New- 
foundland or  Labrador.  Fourteen  years  later,  it  is  said  that  Leif 
Erickson,  a  noted  Icelandic  sailor,  in  order  to  learn  the  truth  of 
Herjulfson's  report,  sailed  westward  and  landed  at  Labrador.  He 
continued  his  explorations  along  the  Atlantic  coast  until  he  reached 
the  present  New  York  harbor. 

Thorvald  and  Thorstein,  brothers  of  Leif,  also  Thorfinn, 
a  noted  mariner,  and  others,  made  occasional  voyages  up  to  as 
late  a  period  as  the  fourteenth  century,  and  explored  the  Atlantic 
coast,  some  of  them  going  as  far  south  as  the  capes  of  Virginia. 


642  '  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

Nothing  of  importance,  however,  seems  to  have  resulted  from 
their  discoveries.  It  remained  for  Christopher  Columbus  to  startle 
all  Europe  by  the  discovery  of  the  New  World.  For  the  time  had 
not  arrived  until  then,  1492  A.  D.,  according  to  the  purposes  of 
the  Almighty,  and,  I  may  add,  the  decree  of  heaven,  that  the 
Western  Continent  should  be  opened  up  to  the  white  races  of  the 
earth,  and  its  limitless  advantages  attract  the  attention  of  the 
whole  civilized  world.  Although  the  most  diligent  search  has  been 
made  for  the  history  of  this  western  world,  as  also  its  strange 
people,  yet  no  reliable  history  could  be  found.  We  are  led  to  ask, 
Is  it  possible  that  a  people,  in  almost  every  part  of  whose  land 
have  been  discovered  the  surest  evidences  of  a  past  civilization 
and  refinement,  exceeding  in  some  respects  the  attainments  of  the 
white  races  of  mankind  today,  should  be  without  a  written  history? 
Every  person  of  enlightenment  would  give  but  one  answer  to  the 
question:     It  seems  incredible. 

Like  Columbus'  discovery,  it  remained  for  the  prophet  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  Joseph  Smith,  under  the  direction  of  heaven, 
to  dig  from  the  earth  that  history;  for  it  had  been  hidden  therein, 
in  a  chosen  spot,  by  the  direct  command  of  God;  and  by  his  ap- 
pointed agents  had  been  preserved,  until  the  Lord's  time  for  its 
coming  forth  had  fully  arrived.  It  is  not  at  all  strange  that  the 
latter-day  prophet,  in  translating  this  sacred  record  dug  from  the 
hill  Cumorah,  should  discover  many  things  which  Judah's  record 
(the  Bible)  intimates,  but  leaves  somewhat  in  obscurity,  especially 
those  passages  which  relate  to  this  continent.  It  is  not  strange, 
either,  that  he  should  make  diligent  enquiry  from  that  source  of 
true  information,  to  which  he  had  unlimited  access,  as  to  the  mis- 
sing links,  in  order  to  make  the  historical  chain  of  this  choice  land 
complete.  Nor  is  it  any  wonder  that  upon  receiving  answer  there- 
to that  he  should  make  the  astounding  statement,  and  that,  too, 
without  any  qualification  whatever,  that  here,  upon  the  continent 
of  America,  was  the  first  home  of  man.  That  the  Garden  of  Eden, 
where  Adam  and  Eve  communed  freely  with  the  Holy  One,  was 
here.  That  here  Adam  fell.  That  Enoch's  Zion  was  here.  That 
here  Noah  built  the  ark.  That  with  Noah  began  the  peopling  of 
other  lands. 

We  will  quote  now  from  the  sacred  record  as  translated  by 


*  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE.  643 

Joseph  Smith.  About  two  thousand  years  B.  C,  at  the  time  of 
the  confusion  of  tongues  and  the  scattering  of  the  people,  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Jared,  his  brother,  and  their  families,  under  the 
direction  and  guidance  of  heaven,  migrated  to  man's  primitive 
home — America.  They  dwelt  here  for  many  centuries;  but,  in  con- 
sequence of  their  continued  wickedness,  they  were  finally  extermi- 
nated. Their  records  were  found  by  the  Nephites,  whose  forefather, 
Lehi,  about  six  hundred  years  B.  C,  was  commanded  by  God  to 
leave  Jerusalem,  with  his  family  and  others,  and  take  up  their 
line  of  March  to  the  promised  land.  This  colony  landed  on  the 
western  coast  of  South  America.  The  American  Indian  of  today 
is  a  small  remnant  of  this  Lehi  family,  who,  at  one  time,  num- 
bered millions  of  people,  as  did  the  people  of  Jared. 

The  decree  of  heaven  concerning  this  land  from  the  beginning 
was,  that  whatsoever  nation  or  people  should  possess  it,  they 
should  serve  God,  or  they  would  be  swept  off,  when  they  were 
"ripened  in  iniquity." 

How  literally  was  this  accomplished  in  Noah's  day !  Also  in 
the  utter  extinction  of  the  people  of  Jared;  as  well  as  fulfilled  in 
the  destruction  of  the  Nephites  and  Lamanites.  That  decree  is  not 
abrogated  in  the  least  degree,  but  shall  remain  in  force,  and  will 
continue  until  the  end  of  time. 

Further,  the  Lord  said  to  the  brother  of  Jared:  Whatsoever 
nation  shall  possess  this  land  shall  be  free  from  bondage  and  cap- 
tivity, and  from  all  other  nations  under  heaven.  Fifteen  hundred 
years  later,  when  speaking  to  Nephi  of  the  Gentiles  occupying  this 
land,  he  says:  And  this  land  shall  be  a  land  of  liberty  unto  the 
Gentiles,  and  there  shall  be  no  kings  upon  the  land,  for  I  will  forti- 
fy it  against  all  other  nations.     (See  II  Nephi  10:  II,  12.) 

From  the  above  quotation,  and  others  of  a  similar  character, 
which  might  be  given,  we  conclude  that  North  and  South  America 
has  a  manifest  destiny,  requiring  a  peculiar  fitness  on  the  part  of 
those  who  inhabit  it,  and  that  a  special  providence  has  hitherto 
guarded  with  a  jealous  care,  and  will  continue  so  to  do,  every  pur- 
pose of  the  Almighty  concerning  this  land. 

Two  thousand  years  before  Columbus  made  his  discovery,  the 
Prophet  Nephi  says  that  he  saw  "a  man  among  the  Gentiles  who 
was  separated  from  the  seed  of  my  brethren  by  the  many  waters;'* 


644  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

that  the  Spirit  of  God  came  down  and  wrought  upon  this  man, 
"and  he  went  forth  upon  the  many  waters,  even  unto  the  seed  of 
my  brethren,  who  were  in  the  promised  land."  This  evidently  was 
Columbus;  although  he  did  not  recognize,  much  less  acknowledge, 
any  divine  inspiration.  He  only  desired  to  demonstrate  his  pet 
theory,  that  of  circumnavigation.  But,  nevertheless,  he  was  God's 
chosen  servant  to  accomplish  a  certain  defined  purpose,  which  he 
did,  though  unknown  to  himself.  Nephi  also  saw  that  "the  Spirit 
of  God  wrought  upon  other  Gentiles,"  they  following  to  this  promised 
land.  He  further  says  that  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  was  upon  these 
Gentiles,  that  they  prospered  upon  the  land,  that  they  were 
"white  and  exceeding  fair."    This  also  was  literally  fulfilled. 

He  beheld  that  their  mother  Gentiles  came  against  them  to  battle; 
but  they  were  delivered  by  the  power  of  God  out  of  the  hand  of  all 
other  nations.  This  evidently  refers  to  Great  Britain  in  the  on- 
slaught she  made  upon  the  American  colonies,  for  England  was 
certainly  their  mother. 

We  have  now  come  to  the  memorable  1776,  the  very  time 
when  should  be  put  to  the  test  the  prophetic  utterances  of  Nephi, 
more  than  two  thousand  years  ago,  as  to  the  intervention  of  heaven 
in  behalf  of  the  people  (Gentiles)  who  were  oppressed  beyond  fur- 
ther endurance,  and  that,  too,  by  a  kingly  power,  which  heaven 
had  decreed  should  not  rule  upon  this  land.  We  confidently  assert 
that  under  the  inspiration  of  heaven,  at  this  supreme  moment,  was 
formulated  that  immortal  instrument,  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence, proclaiming  to  the  entire  world,  but  England  more  particu- 
larly, that  the  United  Colonies  had  absolved  themselves  from  all 
allegiance  to  the  British  crown,  and  that  henceforth  they  were  free 
and  independent  states. 

I  .presume  that  Thomas  Jefferson,  who  penned  (with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  few  interlinings  by  Franklin  and  Adams)  the  memorable 
document,  would  claim  no  special  heavenly  inspiration  in  its  prepara- 
tion, although,  as  stated  in  the  document  itself, heaven  was  relied  upon 
to  support  them  in  the  accomplishment  of  this  noble  resolve.  Nor 
would  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  acknowledge  that  they  were 
influenced  by  any  particular  heavenly  inspiration,  but  rather  that 
the  twentv- seven  valid  reasons  contained  in  the  document  was  the 


'  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE.  645 

only  incentive  which  called  forth  their  action.  Neither  did  King 
Nebuchadnezzar  know,  as  nation  after  nation  yielded  to  his  mili- 
tary prowess,  that  God  had  declared  by  the  voice  of  the  Prophet 
Jeremiah  that  all  nations  should  serve  this  wicked  king,  whom  God 
called  his  "servant,"  when  at  the  zenith  of  his  greatness  as  the 
world's  conqueror,  God  compelled  him,  because  of  his  boastful  arro- 
gance, to  dwell  for  a  long  time  with  the  beasts  of  the  field.  It 
was  only  after  this  humiliation  that  Nebuchadnezzar  acknowledged 
and  honored  the  King  of  heaven.  Many  others,  and  even  wicked 
men,  all  unconscious  to  themselves,  have  been  employed  as  agents 
to  accomplish  certain  purposes  of  our  Father. 

But  to  return  to  our  subject  proper.  By  this  Declaration  of 
Independence  a  conflict  was  invoked  that  must  terminate  in  liberty, 
or  bondage  worse  than  death.  That  heavenly  agents  watched  care- 
fully every  move  during  that  memorable  conflict,  need  not  be  ques- 
tioned; and  that  although  more  than  one  defeat  was  met  with  by 
the  gallant  men  who  composed  the  American  army;  and  although 
disasters  many  were  added  to  defeats.  Also,  in  addition,  the  credit 
of  Congress  gone,  the  national  treasury  bankrupt,  the  army  ill-fed, 
ill-clad  and  unpaid.  And  while  pitted  against  millions  of  money, 
and  more  than  a  quarter  million  of  well- disciplined  marines  and 
troops;  yet  victory  came  at  last,  after  six  years  of  the  most  des- 
perate struggle.  A  victory  of  far  greater  value,  and  more  highly 
prized  (because  so  dearly  bought)  than  it  would  have  been  if 
without  a  struggle  the  goal  had  been  reached.  All  was  controlled, 
suffered  and  consummated  by  the  unseen  hand  of  a  divine  Providence. 

Will  the  people  of  America — Gentiles  as  we  are  named  in  the 
text  quoted — serve  the  God  of  this  land,  in  order  that  they  may 
continue  to  possess  it?  or  will  they  jeopardize  their  national  exist- 
ence, as  well  as  their  individual  existence,  by  iniquitous  practices? 

These  are  questions  pertinent  to  the  subject  before  us.  I 
make  bold  to  assert  that  no  outside  nation,  nor  combination  of 
nations,  will  ever  achieve  a  national  conquest  on  this  soil.  If  dis- 
ruption and  disintegration  should  ever  occur,  they  will  come  from 
internal  sources,  and  not  from  a  foreign  foe.  And  if  that  comes — 
which  heaven  forbid — one  cause,  and  one  cause  only  will  produce 
the  wreck. 

It  was  God  who  established  this  nation  by  divine  inspiration. 


646  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

He  it  was  who  defended  it  against  a  powerful  foe.  It  is  he  who 
has  sustained  it  up  to  the  present.  Let  us  see  to  it  that  we  offend 
him  not  by  a  "ripened  iniquity." 


A  DREAM. 
(For  the  Improvement  Era.) 


I  dreamed  I  saw  two  fair  young  lives 
Come  from  the  throne  of  Grace; 

They  took  upon  them  mortal  mould, 
Eaeh  fair  of  form  and  face. 

One  winged  its  flight  to  stately  halls; 

One,  to  a  lowly  cot. 
One  chose  the  joys  and  wealth  of  earth, 

And  one  the  pauper's  lot. 

I  saw  the  two  walk  side  by  side. 
Through  childhood's  flowery  gate; 

I  saw  the  two  emerge  at  last 
To  manhood's  fair  estate. 

And  he  who  sought  the  stately  halls 

A  life  of  pleasure  led; 
But  he  who  chose  the  lonely  cot. 

Toiled  for  his  daily  bread. 

Unfair,  1  thought,  that  one  should  have 
All  wealth  and  power  by  birth: 

Forgetting  there  are  greater  things, 
Than  powers  and  pelf  of  earth. 

The  scene  changed  to  a  justice  court: 

The  judge,  the  pauper  mild; 
But  he  who  stood  to  answer  guilt, 

Was  fortune's  pampered  child. 

And  then  I  saw  that  God  was  just, 

That  all  his  deeds  are  right; 
That  oftentimes  the  brightest  day, 

Succeeds  the  darkest  night. — W.  S.  Phillips. 
Weston,  Idaho. 


CONVERTED   BY   SIGNS. 

BY    WALTER    M.    WOLFE,    ASSOCIATE    EDITOR    OF   THE   "MILLENNIAL 
STAR,"  LIVERPOOL,  ENGLAND. 


It  is  only  while  in  a  state  of  purity  itself  that  any  church  or 
creed  can  hope  to  win  disciples  by  its  intrinsic  merits.  Faith  be- 
gets faith,  hope  begets  hope,  and  love,  love.  The  man  who  fails 
tq  keep  the  entire  law  cannot  preach  that  law  effectively.  If  he 
attempt  to  do  so,  something  will  arise  that  will  brand  him  as  a 
hypocrite.  The  very  disregard  of  law  shows  a  lack  of  faith.  If  he 
keeps  one  law  and  disobeys  another,  the  one  that  is  slighted  will 
inevitably  rise  in  judgment  against  him.  Hence,  men  often  try  to 
evade  the  commands  of  God  by  substituting  some  scheme  of  their 
own  for  obedience.  Faith,  hope  and  love  cease  to  be  factors  in  the 
evangelization  of  the  human  race,  and  a  method  of  promulgating 
doctrine  and  creed  has  to  be  employed. 

There  came  a  time  in  the  history  of  the  Former-day  Church 
when,  through  the  disobedience  of  those  who  professed  the  gos- 
pel, the  Church,  as  it  had  been  established  by  the  Savior  and  his 
apostles,  lapsed  into  apostasy.  The  beauties  of  Christ's  teachings 
could  no  longer  be  used  to  attract  honest  souls  to  it,  because  the 
teachers  themselves  did  not  practice  the  virtues  which  Jesus  in- 
culcated. So  another  means  of  proselyting  became  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  widen  the  field  of  Christianity,  to  increase  the  number  of 
converts,  and  to  place  all  the  people  of  Europe  under  one  spiritual 
over-lordship,  that  of  the  pope. 

The  sword  might  be  effectual  under  such  generals  as  Belisa- 
rius  and  Clovis,  but  the  sword,  save  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  was 
not  a  Christian  weapon.  Even  in  the  cruel  centuries  that  followed 
the  era  of  Constantine,  men  did  not  quite  forget  that  the  gospel 


648  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

should  be  a  gospel  of  peace.  Faith  as  an  element  of  conversion 
being  lacking,  and  the  sword  being  discredited,  the  only  recourse 
left  was  to  miracles  and  signs;  and  these  were  the  means  that,  for 
more  than  a  thousand  years,  were  used  to  bring  individuals  and 
even  nations  into  the  fold  of  the  church.  Instead  of  signs  follow- 
ing those  who  believed,  signs  preceded  and  were  made  the  founda- 
tion of  belief.  Without  the  miracle  there  was  no  faith,  and  faith 
that  is  based  solely  upon  miracles  must  need  have  fresh  supply  of 
the  miraculous  constantly,  in  order  to  keep  it  alive.  As  signs  in- 
creased, faith  waned;  and  when  the  reason  of  men  obtained  mas- 
tery of  their  credulity,  there  arose  an  intellectual  revolution  against 
the  teachings  and  practices  of  the  dominant  church  that  eventually 
led  to  a  spiritual  reformation. 

For  more  than  twelve  hundred  years  prior  to  the  organization 
of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints  the  now  famil- 
iar verse,  "If  any  man  will  do  his  will,  he  shall  know  of  the  doctrine, 
whether  it  be  of  God,  or  whether  I  speak  of  myself,"  seemed  to 
have  been  expurgated  from  the  Bible.  At  all  events  its  signifi- 
cance was  utterly  lost  sight  of.  Men  obtained  their  knowledge  of 
religion  not  of  themselves,  nor  for  themselves,  but  only  on  the 
testimony,  in  a  great  majority  of  cases  traditional,  of  others. 
There  was  incentive  neither  to  acceptable  work  nor  to  implicit 
faith.  Man  was  contented  to  go  along  taking  for  spiritual  bread 
tlie  barren  stone — the  myths  and  legends  of  what  had  been  done 
generations   before." 

These  traditions  belong  not  alone  to  the  old  world,  nor  to  any 
one  race  of  people.  Wherever  the  great  Catholic  church  has  gone, 
there  she  has  taken  her  tradition,  for  to  her,  tradition  is  sacred, 
and  tradition  has  in  every  case  been  transformed  so  as  to  adapt 
itself  to  the  immediate  needs  of  the  people  with  whom  it  has  to  do. 
There  are  legends  of  mighty  events  whereby  the  whole  trend  of 
history  has  been  changed,  legends  that  have  almost  become  his- 
tory, such  afe  the  appearance  of  the  fiery  cross  in  the  heavens  to 
the  Emperor  Constantine,  and  Clovis'  miraculous  victory  over  the 
Burgundians.  There  are  other  tales  so  manifestly  improbable  that 
they  have  been  almost  forgotten,  save  by  the  more  superstitious 
who  still  make  pilgrimages  to  Lourdes  and  Loretto.  A  third  class 
of  traditions  contain  in  themselves  an  element  of  truth  that  ex- 


CONVERTED  BY  SIGNS.  649 

aggerations,  the  natural  result  of  time,  and  the  desire  of  the  priests 
to  foster  a  belief  in  the  miraculous,  have  so  distorted  that  it  has 
almost  been  hidden.  Yet  these  legends  of  homely  origin,  told  in 
simple  language,  have  had  a  heart-power  to  win  souls  that  the 
more  mighty  miracles  did  not  possess.  The  one  filled  the  human 
breast  with  awe,  the  other  with  love;  and  love  has  always  been  the 
most  powerful  and  effective  weapon  in  spiritual  conquest.  Two  of 
these  folk-legends  that  are  little  known  are  here  given;  the  one 
deals  with  the  Christianization  of  the  Angles  in  Northumberland, 
the  other  with  the  conversion  of  the  Zapotecs  in  Mexico.  Both 
come  to  us  from  monkish  sources. 

For  a  long  lime  after  the  Saxons  of  the  Thames  valley  had 
been  converted  to  Christianity,  the  Angles  to  the  north  of  England 
refused  to  receive  the  new  religion.  They  clung  to  their  old  gods 
with  a  tenacity  that  was  worthy  a  better  cause,  and  it  was  only  by 
a  sign  that  their  hard  hearts  were  changed  and  they  received  the 
gospel  as  it  was  brought  them  from  Rome  by  Paulinus.  It  hap- 
pened in  the  early  part  of  the  seventh  century  that  Edwin,  the 
rightful  heir  to  the  throne  of  Deira,  was  an  exile  in  the  house  of  - 
Rsedwald,  the  king  of  the  East  Angles;  and  while  he  was  there 
^thelfrith,  who  had  usurped  the  kingdom  of  Deira,  sent  to  Rsed- 
wald  and  demanded  his  life.  At  first  Rsedwald  refused  to  betray 
his  guest,  but  afterwards,  when  ^thelfrith  had  sent  the  third  time 
and  now  threatened  to  come  into  East  Anglia  with  an  army.  Rsed- 
wald consented  to  give  up  Edwin  to  his  enemy. 

Now,  Edwin  had  a  friend  who  heard  what  Rsedwald  had  said 
to  the  messengers  of  ^thelfrith.  So  he  went  to  Edwin  in  his 
chamber  (for  it  was  the  first  hour  of  the  night), and  he  said,  "Come 
forth  out  of  the  house."  So  Edwin  came  forth  out  of  the  house, 
and  his  friend  said  unto  him,  "Lo,  Rsedwald  hath  promised- to  slay 
thee.  Follow  me,  therefore,  and  I  will  lead  thee  out  of  this  land 
and  hide  thee  where  neither  Rsedwald  nor  .Ethelfrith  can  find  thee.'' 
But  Edwin  said,  "I  thank  thee  well,  but  I  cannot  follow  thee.  I 
have  sworn  to  Rsedwald  that  I  will  dwell  in  his  land,  and  I  may  not 
go  back  on  that  I  have  spoken."  So  his  friend  went  his  way,  and 
Edwin  sat  alone  on  a  stone  before  the  house,  and  his  heart  was 
very  sorrowful,  and  he  knew  not  what  to  do  or  whither  to  turn 
Mm. 


650  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

Then  there  came  a  man  and  stood  before  him,  a  man  of  strange 
countenance  and  clad  in  strange  raiment,  such  as  Edwin  had  never 
before  seen,  and  Edwin  was  afraid.  Then  said  he,  "Wherefore  dost 
thou,  while  other  men  sleep,  sit  thus  alone  and  sad  on  a  stone  be- 
fore the  house?"  And  Edwin  answered,  "What is  it  to  thee  whether 
I  abide  this  night  within  the  house  or  without  it?"     Then  the 
strange  man  answered  and  said,  "Think  not  that  I  know  thee  not 
who  thou  art,  and  why  thou  art  sad  and  sleepest  not,  and  why 
thou  sittest  thus  alone  before  the  house.     For  I  truly  know  thee, 
and  I  know  what  evils  they  are  that  thou  fearest  lest  they  should 
come  upon  thee.  But  tell  me  what  reward  wilt  thou  give  unto  him 
who  shall  free  thee  from  thy  sorrows,  and  shall  persuade  Raedwald 
that  he  shall  not  do  thee  any  harm,  nor  deliver  thee  into  the  hands 
of  them  who  seek  thy  life?"    Then  Edwin  answered  and  said,  "All 
that  I  have  will  I  give  as  a  reward  to  him  that  will  do  this  thing 
for  me."     Again  the  stranger  said,  "And  what  wilt  thou  do,  of  a 
truth,  if  a  man  shall  promise  thee,  of  a  truth,  that  thou  shalt  smite 
thine  enemies  and  reign  in  their  stead,  and  shalt  be  a  mightier  king 
than  were  any  of  thy  forefathers?"     And  Edwin  replied,  "Yea, 
verily,  if  a  man  shall  do  this  thing  unto  me,  I  will  give  him  such  a 
reward  as  shall  be  fitting  for  his  good  deeds."     Then  the  strange 
man  spake  unto  him  the  third  time  and  said,  "Yea,  and  when  this 
thing  hath  come  to  pass,  and  when  thou  sittest  on  thy  father's 
throne,  what  wilt  thou  do  if  he  that  promised  thee  all  these  things 
shall  tell  thee  of  a  new  life  and  of  a  new  law,  better  than  any  that 
thou  or  thy  fathers  have  known?    Wilt  thou  then  believe  him,  and 
obey  him,  and  do  such  things  as  he  shall  speak  unto  thee  for  thy 
good?"   And  Edwin  answered  and  said,  "Yea,  verily,  if  such  a  man 
shall  deliver  me  out  of  my  sorrows,  and  set  me  on  my  father's 
throne,  I  will  believe  him,  and  obey  him  in  all  things  whatsoever  he 
shall  say  unto  me."  Then  the  strange  man  laid  his  hand  on  Edwin's 
head,  and  spake  unto  him  saying,  "When  this  sign  shall  come  unto 
thee,  remember  this  night  and  thine  own  words,  and  delay  not  to 
do  that  which  thou  hast  promised."     Then  the  strange  man  van- 
ished out  of  Edwin's  sight,  and  he  saw  him  no  more,  and  he  said  in 
his  heart,  "This  is  no  man,  but  rather  one  of  the  great  gods,  or 
one  of  the  kind  elves  that  has  spoken  with  me." 

So  Edwin  sat  alone  before  the  house,  and  he  rejoiced  greatly 


CONVERTED  BY  SIGNS.  651 

in  his  heart  at  that  which  the  strange  man  had  said  unto  him,  and 
he  wondered  who  the  man  might  be  and  whence  he  had  come.  Then 
came  forth  the  friend  who  had  before  spoken  to  him,  and  he  came 
with  a  joyful  countenance  and  said,  "Rise  up,  and  come  into  the 
house,  and  lay  aside  thy  sorrows,  and  let  thy  limbs  rest  in  sleep, 
for  the  king's  heart  is  changed,  and  he  will  do  thee  no  harm,  but 
will  keep  the  promise  that  he  hath  sworn  unto  thee." 

Afterwards  Rsedwald  and  Edwin  fought  with  ^Ethelfrith  and 
his  army,  and  slew  him,  and  Edwin  did  indeed  sit  on  the  throne  of 
his  father  and  become  the  greatest  king  in  all  England.  He  mar- 
ried a  wife  who  was  a  Christian,  and  her  priest,  Paulinus,  spake 
with  him  often  about  the  gospel  of  Christ,  but  he  would  not  accept 
it.  Years  after,  when  all  the  kings  of  the  West  Saxons  were  sub- 
ject to  Edwin,  and  there  was  peace  throughout  the  land,  he  was 
sitting  by  himself  one  day  and  pondering  upon  the  things  that 
Paulinus  had  told  him.  Then  came  Paulinus  to  him  and  laid  his 
hand  upon  his  head,  and  said,  "Knowest  thou  this  sign?"  And  Ed- 
win trembled  and  fell  at  his  feet.  Then  Paulinus  stretched  forth 
his  hand  and  lifted  him  up,  and  said  unto  him,  "Be  of  good  cheer, 
Edwin;  the  Lord  whom  I  serve  hath  delivered  thee  out  of  the  hand 
of  thine  enemies  whom  thou  didst  fear,  and  he  hath  given  the 
kingdom  which  thou  didst  desire.  Defer  not  then  to  do  the  thing 
which  thou  didst  promise."  Then  Edwin  knew  that  it  was  he  who 
spake  to  him  by  night,  as  he  sat  at  the  gate  of  the  house  of  Rsed- 
wald, and  he  believed. 

When  the  king  was  converted,  the  work  was  really  done.  Ed- 
win called  a  council  of  his  wise  men  and  told  them  all  that  had 
happened  to  him,  and  they  believed  also.  So,  as  the  result  of  a 
sign,  all  the  folk  of  the  north  of  England  became  Christians  and 
were  baptized,  as  was  Edwin  their  king.  In  honor  of  his  conver- 
sion, Edwin  built  a  great  church  of  wood  in  his  capital  city  of  York, 
and  he  made  Paulinus  bishop  of  York.  Afterwards  a  mighty  church 
of  stone  was  built  called  Yorkminster,  and  today  it  is,  next  to  the 
cathedral  in  Canterbury,  the  most  important  church  in  old  England. 

We  often  think  of  the  inhabitants  of  Mexico  at  the  time  of 
the  conquest,  with  the  exception  of  the  Aztecs,  as  a  barbarous 
people,  and  yet  the  tradition  of  the  conversion  of  the  Zapotecs  will 
compare  very  favorably  with  the  Anglo-Saxon  legend  given  above. 


652  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

Midway  between  Oaxaca  and  Mitla,  in  the  state  of  Oaxaca,  is 
the  little  village  of  Santa  Maria  del  Tule,  famous  for  its  big  tree, 
which  is  said  to  be  the  largest  in  Mexico.  It  shades  the  greater 
part  of  the  church-yard,  and  is  an  object  of  veneration  to  the  In- 
dians. When  Alvarado  commenced  his  southward  march  of  con- 
quest, it  was  beneath  this  tree  that  the  Zapotec  princes  met  to 
consider  plans  for  resistance.  It  had  been  their  council  tree  for 
generations.  The  new  faith  was  exceedingly  hard  for  the  Zapotecs 
to  accept.  Had  they  been  allowed  to  retain  their  old  religion,  they 
might  have  yielded  fealty  sooner.  As  it  was,  neither  mailed  war- 
rior or  black-robed  priest  produced  much  effect  upon  them.  One 
evening  after  the  council  had  dispersed,  a  blind  man  came  to  rest 
under  the  wide-spreading  branches.  As  he  sat,  he  became  aware 
of  a  presence  near  by,  and  a  melodious  voice  asked  him  if  he  wished 
to  receive  his  sight.  Naturally  he  replied  in  the  affirmative.  His 
visitor  then  informed  him  that  she  was  the  Blessed  Virgin,  the  pro- 
tector of  the  Christians,  and  that  if  he  would  believe  her  and  obey 
her  commands,  he  should  see.  The  Indian  made  all  the  necessary 
promises,  whereupon  his  eyes  were  touched,  and  looking  up,  he  saw 
a  being  of  such  celestial  brightness  that  he  fell  to  the  ground  in  a 
swoon.  The  Virgin  raised  him  to  his  feet,  and  bade  him  go  to  the 
priests  and  princes  of  the  Zapotecs,  who  had  known  him  in  the 
days  of  his  affliction,  and  tell  them  who  had  healed  him,  and  preach 
to  them  the  religion  of  Jesus  and  Mary.  It  goes  without  saying 
that,  by  this  miracle,  the  tribe  was  immediately  brought  to  a  sense 
of  its  lost  condition,  and  the  priests  were  kept  as  busy  baptizing 
converts  as  they  were  in  the  days  of  Clovis,  the  Frank.  A  church 
was  built  close  to  the  tree,  and  Santa  Maria  del  Tule  became  the 
patroness  of  the  Zapotecs.  Pilgrimages  are  made  here  by  blind  In- 
dians, but,  during  our  short  stay  in  Tule,  we  could  get  track  of  no 
authenticated  case  of  healing  in  this  generation.  Still  the  faith  of 
the  Indians  is  unshaken. 

For  both  the  story  of  Edwin  and  that  of  the  blind  Indian  there 
might  have  been  originally  the  shadow  of  a  foundation,  but,  as  was 
the  case  with  the  ancient  classic  myths,  by  being  repeated  from 
generation  to  generation,  the  tale  increased  until  the  predominat- 
ing element,  instead  of  truth,  was  fiction,  and  it  was  the  fiction 
rathe-5'  than  th.  <,rath.  that  possessed  the  power  of  attraction.     It 


CONVERTED  BY  SIGNS.  653 

is  not  at  all  improbable  that  each  of  these  legends  is  the  result  of 
what  was  at  first  considered  harmless  exaggeration.  The  Latter- 
day  Saint  is  privileged  to  see  many  marvelous  manifestations  that 
to  the  world  are  truly  miraculous.  As  these  sacred  things  are 
talked  about  and  pass  from  mouth  to  mouth,  there  is,  among  too 
many  of  us,  a  tendency  to  make  the  tale  as  large  as  possible,  and  if 
this  practice  were  continued,  there  would  be  constantly  arising 
stories  that  would  have  to  be  corrected,  traditions  that  would  have 
to  be  disavowed.  It  is  sufficiently  easy,  even  under  the  most  fav- 
orable conditions,  for  the  Saint  to  lapse  into  the  errors  and  evils 
of  the  world,  and  it  is  devoutly  to  be  hoped  that  a  tendency  to  ex- 
aggeration will  not  lead  to  a  copying  of  the  world  by  turning  spe- 
cial blessings  into  mere  tradition,  and  making  them  the  subject  of 
idle  gossip.  The  manifestations  which  are  enjoyed  by  the  people 
of  God  are  the  results  of  faith  and  obedience,  and  are  not  given  to 
make  converts,  and  they  can  never  be  considered  with  the  tradi- 
tion, innocent  though  they  may  be,  by  which  the  churches  of  the 
world  have  too  often  been  built  up. 


TO  MAN. 
{For  the  Improvement  Era.) 


Planted  as  thou  art,  amidst  a  moving  universe, 

Catch  thou  the  tread,  and  linger  not  behind! 
List  to  the  echoes,  as  the  Gods  converse, 

Thy  soul  shall  be  attuned;  so,  too,  thy  mind. 
Stretch  forth  thine  hands,  (permit,  we  call  them  five). 

Gather  with  them  all.     To  squander?  Nay,  to  hold 
And  crown  thy  inner  brow  with  truth  to  live. 

Then  weave  them  into  garments  pure  as  gold. 
And  as  thy  glorious  thoughts,  clothed  as  a  dream. 

Rush  on  amid  the  current  from  above, 
Let  the  uncomely  traits  be  drowned  beneath  the  stream, 

Thy  soul  be  wrapped  in  swaddling  clothes  of  love. 

James  Nielsen. 


THE   BIBLE. 

THE  KING  JAMES  TRANSLATION— A  COMPROMISE. 
BY   FREDERIC   CLIFT,   M.   D. 


Inspiration — we  understand  by  this  word  when  applied  to  re- 
ligious matters  that  the  mind  is  impressed  by  Divinity  with  certain 
thoughts  which  the  individual  expresses  in  his  own  words,  either 
verbally  or  in  writing.  He  does  not  lose  his  personality — the  edu- 
cated man  expresses  the  same  thought,  but  in  a  different  language, 
to  that  used  by  the  uneducated.  Contrast  the  four  Gospels  and 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  The  language  of  the  latter  shows  that 
it  could  not  have  been  written  by  the  authors  of  three  of  the  Gos- 
pels, whilst  its  similarity  of  expression,  and  the  use  of  scientific 
terms,  identifies  it  with  the  author  of  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke  who, 
we  are  told,  was  a  physician.  So,  too,  when  we  compare  the  writ- 
ings of  St.  John  with  those  of  other  writers  in  the  New  Testament, 
we  find  that  his  Greek  is  that  of  the  more  educated  class,  whilst 
the  others  wrote  in  the  provincial  Judaic  or  Hellenistic  Greek. 

The  Christian  world  considers  the  Bible  to  be  the  one  and  sole 
revelation  of  God.  It  contains  the  history  of  man  from  his  crea- 
tion and  fall  to  the  redemption  wrought  out  by  Christ;  and  a  short 
history  of  the  founding  of  the  Church,  as  also  a  prophetic  forecast 
of  the  future.  They  assert  that  direct  inspiration  by  the  Almighty 
has  ceased  since  the  year  97  A.  D.,  and  that  God  no  longer  em- 
ploys prophets  through  whom  to  reveal  his  mind  and  will  to  his 
people;  and  this  notwithstanding  he  declared  by  the  prophet  Amos, 
"Surely  the  Lord  God  will  do  nothing,  but  he  revealeth  his  secret 
to  his  servants  the  prophets." 

In  397  A.  D.,  the  so-called  church  of  that  day  established 
what  is  known  as  the  Canon  of  Scripture — that  is,  the  bishops, 


THE  BIBLE.  655 

under  the  inspiration  and  by  permission  of  the  Roman  emperor, 
assembled  at  the  Council  of  Carthage,  in  that  year,  and  decided 
which  of  the  then  existing  numerous  Hebrew  and  Christian  writings 
should  be  received  as  inspired  scripture.  They  rejected  all  other 
writings  as  uninspired,  and  thus  arose  the  collection  of  sixty-six 
books  known  as  the  Bible.  The  reception  or  rejection  of  each  book 
was  decided  by  a  majority  vote  in  each  case,  and  history  records 
that  St.  John's  book  of  Revelation  was  only  included  by  a  bare 
majority  of  one.  The  inspiration,  if  any,  given  to  the  compilers 
must  have  been  somewhat  meagre,  if  it  had  not  already  departed. 
We  can  picture  the  acrimonious  discussions  which  took  place,  from 
the  spirit  which  pervaded  the  so-called  councils  of  the  church,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  Roman  usurpation.  The  Lord  hath  said,  *'My 
Spirit  shall  not  always  strive  with  man,"  and  this  council  seems  to 
mark  the  time  of  the  absolute  departure  of  the  Spirit  of  God  from 
the  church,  as  a  whole.  There  were  individuals  who  sought  the 
Lord  and  obtained  blessings,  but  the  apostasy  of  the  church  was 
complete  from  that  time,  for  they  had  rejected  many  precious 
truths;  and  later,  we  find  Luther  rejecting  several  books  of  the 
New  Testament,  including  the  Epistle  of  St.  James,  because  the 
doctrines  taught  therein  did  not  agree  with  his  philosophy.  The 
time  had  come  when  men  "would  not  endure  sound  doctrine"  (II 
Tim.  4:3). 

The  majority  of  the  Christian  world  admit  that  the  individual 
authors  of  the  various  books  of  the  Bible  were  divinely  inspired, 
and  that  the  books,  as  written  by  them  in  their  respective  dialects, 
are  true  and  authentic  writings;  but  the  Latter-day  Saints,  whilst 
proclaiming  the  inspiration  of  Paul  and  others,  do  not  admit  that 
those  who  copied  and  translated  the  original  manuscripts  into  other 
languages  were  also  inspired.  Before  the  days  of  printing,  errors 
necessarily  occurred,  and  were  passed  over  by  successive  scribes, 
each  copying  or  endeavoring  to  correct  the  mistakes  of  his  prede- 
cessor, and  adding  some  of  his  own.  The  originals  were  lost  or 
destroyed  during  the  early  Christian  persecutions.  The  three  ear- 
liest known  copies  only  going  back  to  and  ranging  in  date  from  300 
to  450  A.  D.  These  three  manuscripts,  or  copies  of  the  books  in 
their  original  tongues,  are:  1.  The  Vatican,  or  Codex  B.  2.  The 
Sinaiatic  or  Codex  Alept.     3.  The  Alexandrian,  or  Codex  A.     The 


656  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

Vatican  is  to  be  found  in  the  Roman  Catholic  library  at  Rome, 
The  Sinaiatic  is  one  of  the  treasures  of  the  Greek  Catholic  church, 
in  St.  Petersburg;  and  the  Alexandrian  belongs  to  Protestant  Eng- 
land, and  is  kept  at  the  British  Museum.  The  latter  was  presented 
to  Charles  I.  by  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  in  1628,  seven- 
teen years  too  late  to  be  of  use  in  preparing  the  King  James'  trans- 
lation of  1611. 

In  addition  to  these  manuscripts,  we  have  what  are  known  as 
versions,  2;i2;.,  translations  made  from  the  original  Hebrew,  Chaldaic, 
and  Greek,  into  the  various  languages  of  Christendom,  one  of  the 
most  important  being  that  knowm  as  the  Latin  Vulgate.  This  was 
made  by  St.  Jerome,  about  the  end  of  the  4th  century,  and  is  that 
from  which  the  Roman  Catholic  translations,  used  in  English 
speaking  countries,  and  known  as  the  Douay  and  Rheims  versions, 
were  made  in  1582  and  1609.  Bede,  the  Anglo  Saxon  historian,  735 
A.  D.,  was  one  of  the  first  to  translate  the  Bible,  or  portions  of  it, 
into  the  language  of  our  forefathers.  The  first  English  translation 
by  Wyclif,  1383,  was  based  on  the  Latin  Vulgate,  and  of  this 
one  hundred  and  seventy  original  copies  are  still  in.  existence. 
Then  came  the  printing  press,  in  1450,  with  the  revival  of  Greek 
learning  in  Europe,  resulting  in  the  publication  by  Tyndale  of  sev- 
eral editions  of  his  translation  of  the  books  from  the  original 
Greek,  about  the  year  1530,  or  three  hundred  years  before  the 
publication  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.  To  those  interested  in  com- 
paring these  translations  with  those  of  subsequent  date,  it  may  be 
noted  that  the  Gospels  and  Epistles  in  the  first  prayer  book  of  Ed- 
ward VL,  are  taken  direct  from  Tyndale's  translation,  whilst  the 
Psalms,  in  that  and  the  present  prayer  book  of  the  Episcopal 
church,  are  taken  unchanged  from  the  Great  Bible  of  Henry  VHI. 
These  were  followed  by  other  translations,  at  short  intervals,  until 
the  publication  of  the  Genevan  Bible,  in  1560.  This  translation 
was  dedicated  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  and,  during  Puritan  times,  be- 
came the  standard  Bible.  The  following,  a  copy  of  one  of  the 
notes  in  that  Bible,  clearly  indicates  its  Calvinistic  origin,  and 
shows  that  Episcopal  dislike  to  it  was  not  unwarranted,  from  their 
point  of  view.  Commenting  on  Rev.  9:  3:  The  locusts  that  came 
out  of  the  bottomless  pit  are  explained  as  meaning  "False  teachers, 
heretics  and  worldly,  subtile  prelates,  with  Monks,  Friars,  Cardinals, 


THE  BIBLE.  657 

patriarchs,  archbishops,  doctors,  bachelors,  and  masters  of  arts, 
which  forsake  Christ  to  maintain  false  doctrines."  In  1568,  ap- 
peared another  translation  which  was  ordered  to  be  read  in  the 
Episcopal  churches.  It  was  known  as  Parker's  or  the  Bishops' 
Bible. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  King  James,  these  two  Bibles 
were  in  general  use,  whilst  a  third — the  Great  Bible  of  Henry 
VIII — was  still  chained  to  a  stone  or  wooden  desk  in  many  of  the 
English  country  churches.  Smyth,  in  How  we  Got  Our  Bible,*' 
tersely  sums  up  the  position:  "The  latter  was  antiquated  and 
cumbersome,  the  Genevan,  though  a  careful  translation  and  con- 
venient for  general  use,  had  become,  through  the  Puritan  character 
of  its  notes,  quite  the  Bible  of  a  party,  while  the  Bishops'  version, 
a  very  inferior  production,  neither  commanded  the  respect  of  the 
scholars  nor  suited  the  wants  of  the  people." 

In  January,  1604,  a  conference  of  bishops  and  clergy  was 
held,  under  the  presidency  of  King  James  himself,  at  Hampton 
Court  Palace,  to  consider  certain  alleged  grievances  of  the  Puritan 
party  in  the  church,  at  which  it  was  proposed  that  a  new  transla- 
tion of  the  Bible  should  be  made.  King  James  favored  the  project. 
He  did  not  conceal  his  dislike  for  the  Genevan  Bible,  and  in  author- 
izing the  preparation  of  the  new  Bible  he  directed,  "that  no  notes 
should  be  added,  having  found  in  those  which  were  annexed  to  the 
Geneva  translation  some  very  partial,  untrue,  seditious,  and  savor- 
ing too  much  of  dangerous  and  traitorous  conceits."  The  follow- 
ing note  shows  the  temper  of  both  parties  at  the  time.  In  Exodus 
I,  where  the  conduct  of  the  Hebrew  midwives  is  described,  and  who 
it  is  stated,  "did  not  as  the  king  commanded,  but  saved  the  men 
children  alive,"  the  Genevan  margin  declares  "their  disobedience 
to  the  king  was  lawful,  though  their  dissembling  was  evil."  "It  is 
false,"  cried  the  indignant  advocate  of  kingly  right;  "to  diso- 
bey a  king  is  not  lawful,  such  traitorous  conceits  should  not  go 
forth  among  the  people."    On'  another  occasion  the  king  exclaimed 


*  I  am  indebted  for  many  thoughts  and  quotations  to  this  small  vol- 
ume— published  by  Pott  Co.,  New  York,  Our  missionaries  would 
gain  much  useful  information  from  its  perusal. — F.  C. 


IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

"Pr€sbyterianism  agreeth  as  well  with  monarchy  as  God  and  the 

devil." 

Such  was  the  spirit  of  the  times.  Men  were  largely  tired  of 
the  wrangling  of  the  two  religious  parties.  Fifty-four  learned 
men  were  selected  impartially  from  High  Churchmen  and  Puritans. 
Forty-seven  of  them  took  part  in  the  work,  and  in  addition  some 
who  represented  scholarship  totally  unconnected  with  any  relig- 
ious party.  Pains  were  taken  by  the  king  who  wrote  a  letter  to 
Bishop  Bancroft  charging  "the  bishops  to  inform  themselves  of  all 
such  learned  men — having  special  skill  in  the  Hebrew  and  Greek 
tongues— that  they  send  their  observations  *  *  *  that  so,  our 
•said  intended  translation  may  have  the  help  and  furtherance  of  all 
pur  principal  learned  men  within  this  our  kingdom."  Marginal 
notes  were  forbidden,  except  for  the  explanation  of  Hebrew  and 
Greek  words.  The  translators  were  divided  into  six  companies. 
They  carefully  studied  the  then  available  Greek  and  Hebrew  texts; 
they  used  the  best  commentaries  of  European  scholars,  and  the 
Bibles  in  Spanish,  Italian,  French  and  German  were  examined  for 
^ny  help  they  might  afford  in  arriving  at  the  exact  sense  of  each 
passage.  But,  there  was  no  Divine  inspiration,  except  such  as  was 
^claimed  for  the  councils  of  Nice,  Carthage,  etc. ;  and  further,  these 
translators  did  not  have  the  privilege  of  examining  and  comparing 
their  work  with  the  three  earliest  manuscripts.  It  was  a  bold 
.effort  on  the  part  of  man  to  put  forward  a  Bible  which  should  suit 
the  majority  of  the  people  of  whatever  religious  party  they  might 
,be  members.  The  sense  having  been  found,  "no  pains  were  spared 
,to  express  it  in  clear,  vigorous,  idiomatic  English."  Words  were 
inserted  or  interpolated  without  any  corresponding  equivalent  in 
the  original  language,  in  order  to  elucidate  or  improve  the  sense, 
and  oftentimes  the  meaning  of  a  passage  was  strained  that  a 
smooth  and  euphonious  rendering  might  be  given.  Its  admirers 
speak  of  its  "grace  and  dignity,"  its  "flowing  words,"  its  "masterly 
English  style;"  and  Father  Faber,  one  of  Rome's  greatest  converts, 
wrote  of  this  version:  "It  is  part  of  the  national  mind,  and  the 
anchor  of  national  seriousness.  Nay,  it  is  worshiped  with  a  pos- 
itive idolatry,  in  extenuation  of  whose  fanaticism,  its  intrinsic 
beauty  pleads  availingly  with  the  scholar."  It  must  be  admitted 
that  the  translators  did  not  hesitate  to  add  words  expressive  of 


THE  BIBLE.  659 

their  own  views,  and  to  alter  and  transpose  the  language  of  pre- 
vious translators,  in  order  to  obtain  this  "grace  and  dignity."  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Rheims  and  Douay  translations  are  not  so  ele- 
gant, in  their  diction  and  euphony,  but  are  more  correct  and  literal 
translations,  and,  like  Tyndale's,  may  therefore  be  frequently  con- 
sulted with  advantage  by  those  not  able  to  use  the  Hebrew  and 
Greek  texts,  for  the  purpose  of  clearing  up  the  actual  meaning  of 
many  passages  of  scripture. 

Notwithstanding  the  Bible  has  been  thus  handled  by  various 
translators,  one  of  the  chief  objections  to  the  Book  of  Mormon  is, 
that  it  is  not  translated  into  the  elegant  English  of  Boston  or  Lon- 
don. These  same  Christian  objectors,  who  claim  inspiration  for 
the  authorized  translation  of  King  James,  object  to  the  most  triv- 
ial verbal  correction  of  the  Book  of  Mormon,  and  adduce  such  cor- 
rection, or  the  added  "grace  and  dignity"  produced  thereby,  as 
evidence  of  its  fraudulent  origin.  How  appropriate  that  those  who 
approve  of  adding  "grace  and  dignity"  to  the  language  of  the  un- 
educated fishermen  of  Galilee,  and  converting  their  Judaic  provin- 
cial dialects  into  "masterly  English;"  or  who,  again,  in  order  to 
bolster  up  a  conception  of  the  Godhead,  hostile  alike  to  sense  and 
reason,  approve  of  the  interpolation  of  twenty-four  words  between 
the  7th  and  8th  verses  of  the  5th  chapter  of  St.  John's  1st  Epistle — 
how  appropriate,  I  submit,  that  these  same  followers  of  the  Christ 
should  use  the  self-same  arguments  which  have  been  adduced  by 
nfidels  against  the  truth  of  the  Bible,  when  they,  in  turn,  contend 
against  the  truth  of  the  Book  of  Mormon. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  spirit  of  compromise  was  the  prevail- 
ing element  amongst  the  translators  of  the  King  James  version. 
They  knew  that  neither  party  would  submit  in  Mo  to  the  other, 
and  there  is  evidence  of  an  agreement  to  give  and  take.  The  vote 
of  the  majority  was  to  be  accepted,  and,  as  in  the  case  of  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  Book  of  Revelation  into  the  Canon  of  Scripture  at 
Carthage,  so  in  the  authorized  translation,  a  single  vote  may  have 
been  sufficient  to  bring  about  the  acceptance  of  renderings,  the 
contentions  in  relation  to  which  have  since  led  to  the  building  up 
of  the  numerous  sects  of  Christendom.  We  may  well  tadie  upon 
ourselves  the  duty  imposed  by  Tyndale  in  the  preface  to  his  own 
ranslation,  "that  if  they  perceive  in  any  place  that  the  version  has 


660  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

not  attained  unto  the  very  sense  of  the  tongue,  or  the  very  mean- 
ing of  the  Scripture,  or  have  not  given  the  right  English  word, 
that  they  should  put  to  their  hands  and  amend  it,  remembering 
that  it  is  their  duty  so  to  do." 

As  instances  showing  the  position  assumed  in  this  article,  let 
us  consider  the  crucial  doctrine  of  baptism.  There  were,  at  that 
time,  at  least  two  parties  holding  different  views.  1.  The  Catholic 
(English  and  Roman)  who  believed  in  its  absolute  necessity,  and 
that  immersion  was  the  primitive  method  of  performing  the  ordi- 
nance, but  asserted  that  the  quantum  of  water  was  immaterial,  and 
therefore  allowed  sprinkling  or  pouring.  2.  The  Presbyterians  and 
Puritans,  on  the  other  hand,  who  asserted  that  baptism  was  not  a 
necessity,  but  allowed  that  a  little  water,  more  or  less,  would  not 
do  harm,  anyway.  Thus  the  Episcopalian  English  Prayer  book  in- 
structs the  priest,  that,  taking  the  child  into  his  hands,  "he  shall 
dip  it  in  the  water  discreetly  and  warily,"  but  if  certified  that  "the 
child  is  weak,  it  shall  suffice  to  pour  water  upon  it."  In  practice 
Episcopalians  of  today  act  on  the  principle  that  all  children  are 
too  weak  to  be  dipped,  and  accordingly,  without  calling  for  a  cer- 
tificate, sprinkle  them,  unless,  as  sometimes  happens,  parents  insist 
upon  the  ordinance  being  performed  by  immersion.  Thus,  although 
the- Canon  law  of  the  English  church  required  immersion,  yet,  by 
the  neglect  to  insist  on  the  production  of  certificates  of  ill-health, 
and  the  unfaithful  teaching  of  the  clergy,  there  was,  and  even  to- 
day there  is,  no  strong  opinion  in  that  church  as  to  the  necessity 
for  baptism  by  immersion — although  the  canons  of  the  church  re- 
quire that  it  be  done  in  accordance  with  the  primitive  pattern,  set 
by  Christ  himself.  When,  therefore,  such  passages  as  Matt.  3: 
1,  6,  and  11  came  up  for  translation,  the  re  visors  wer©  willing  to 
leave  it  an  open  matter  by  translating  the  Greek  word  en  in  verses 
1  and  6  by  the  word  "in,"  whilst  the  same  identical  Greek  word  in 
verse  11  is  translated  "with."  If  "with"  is  the  proper  translation 
of  the  word  en,  then  verse  1  would  read  "With  those  days  came 
John  the  Baptist  preaching  with  the  wilderness  of  Judea,"and  verse 
6,  "And  were  baptized  of  him  with  Jordan."  This  would  corres- 
pond with  the  King  James  translation  of  verse  11:  "I  indeed  bap- 
tize you  with  water,"  and  consistency  requires  that  the  word  en 
should  be  translated  by  the  same  word  in  all  three  verses.     The 


THE  BIBLE.  661 

Greek  language  has  two  words  meaning  "with"  viz. :  meta  and  sun 
neither  of  which  however  are  used  in  verse  11.  In  the  Rheims, 
Roman  Catholic  Testament,  and  also  in  the  American  Standard 
Revised  Bible,  of  1901,  the  words  en  udatos  are  correctly  translated 
"in  water."  Thus  modern  and  ancient  translators  agree,  when  they 
throw  aside  their  doctrinal  differences,  and  seek  only  for  a  correet 
translation  of  the  original  Greek.  Again  in  John  3 :  5,  where  Christ 
says,  "Except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the  spirit,"  we  find 
the  revisers  use  the  simple  genitive  case  sign,  "of,"  before  the 
words,  water  and  spirit;  but  a  reference  to  the  Greek  shows  that 
not  only  was  the  genitive  case  used,  but  a  special  preposition 
governing  the  genitive  was  inserted  before  the  word  udatos, 
water.  This  preposition  ek  has  the  forceful  meaning,  "out  of." 
The  same  word  is  found  in  Matt.  2:  15.  "Out  of  Egypt  have 
I  called  my  son,"  also  in  John  20:  2:  "They  have  taken  away 
the  Lord  out  of  the  sepulchre."  The  use  of  this  special  word  em- 
phasizes the  fact  that  a  man  must  first  go  down  into  the  water  in 
order  to  come  "out  of"  it,  but  the  translators,  by  purposely  or 
otherwise  omitting  it,  weaken  the  esssential  principle  of  the  ordi- 
nance— viz.;  the  immersion.  The  proper  rendering  therefore  is, 
"Except  a  man  be  born  out  of  water  and  the  Spirit."  The  Latin 
versions  are  of  great  value,  from  the  fact  that  the  Greek  and 
Latin  languages  were  both  in  general  use  by  the  civilized  world,  at 
the  time  when  the  scriptures  were  written,  and  at  the  time  when  no 
disputations  had  arisen  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  Greek  word  baptizo. 
The  English  translators,  instead  of  translating  this  word  by  its 
primitive  equivalents,  viz.:  "to  dip"  "to  plunge,"  coined  the  word 
"baptize,"  and  so  introduced  a  foreign  term  into  our  language, 
which  has  since  gradually  lost  its  primitive  meaning  of  "dip,"  and 
is  today  held  by  the  majority  of  Christians  to  permit  of  the  ordi- 
nance being  performed  by  sprinkling.  The  Latins,  however,  did  not 
import  the  word  baptizo  into  their  language,  but  contemporaneous 
writers  translated  it  by  the  Latin  word  immergo  which  by  all  com- 
petent authorities  is  rendered  into  English  by  the  words,  "plunge 
into,"  "immerse"  "drown."  Immergo  never  did  nor  can  mean  to 
"sprinkle"  or  "to  pour."  On  the  other  hand,  the  two  Greek  words 
nipto  or  luo  both  have  the  generic  meaning  of  "to  wash"  and  may 
also  be  rendered  "sprinkle"  or  "pour."     The   inspired  Galileean 


662  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

fishermen  knew  what  they  were  writing  and  talking  about,  conse- 
quently they  did  not  use  either  of  these  two  words,  when  referring 
to  the  ordinance  of  baptism  as  instituted  by  John  and  our  pattern, 
Christ. 

Again,  the  translators  inserted  words  which  formed  no  part 
of  the  original  text.  Take  for  instance,  John  20:  1,  "The  first  day 
of  the  week."  The  Greek  text  contains  no  corresponding  word  for 
"day" — it  is  an  interpolation  pure  and  simple.  Whilst  the  Greek 
word  sabbaton  is  translated  by  the  word  "week."  This  word  sab- 
baton  is  with  one  exception  never  translated  "week"  except  in 
the  places  in  the  New  Testament  in  which  the  Christian  Sabbath 
is  referred  to,  viz.:  the  day  following  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  These 
places  are:  Matt.  28:  1,  Mark  16:  2  and  9,  Luke  24:  1,  John 
20:  1  and  19,  Acts  20:  7,  I  Cor.  16:  2.  The  interpolations  and 
mistakes  made  by  the  translators  in  this  connection,  enable  the 
Seventh-day  Adventist  to  state,  and  make  much  of  the  fact,  that 
Sunday  is  never  called  a  Sabbath  in  the  New  Testament;  and  per- 
sons who  believe— as  the  Christian  world  generally  does — in  the 
correctness  and  inspiration  of  the  King  James  translation,  are  thus 
led  to  accept  such  statement  as  a  fact,  whereas  if  they  consult 
other  translations,  e.  g.,  Tyndale's,  or  the  Emphatic  Diaglott,  they 
will  find  that  the  Greek  word  sabbaton,  in  this  connection,  is  cor- 
rectly translated  "Sabbath";  and  so,  one  of  the  principal  arguments 
upon  which  Seventh-Day  Adventists  build  up  their  doctrine,  falls 
to  the  ground. 

Thus  comparing  Matt.  28:  1,  in  the  King  James,  with  a  literal, 
or  word  for  word,  translation,  we  must  admit  that  "in  the  end 
of  the  Sabbath,  as  it  began  to  dawn  towards  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  came  Mary,"  is  more  euphonious  and  has  greater  "grace 
and  dignity"  than  the  literal  rendering,  "Now  after  the  Sabbath, 
as  it  was  dawning  into  the  first  of  the  Sabbaths,  came  Mary." 
At  first  sight  the  meaning  or  distinction  may  not  seem  clear  to 
the  reader,"  but  if  the  word  "Jewish  is  read  before  the  word 
"Sabbath,"  and  "Christian"  before  the  word  "Sabbaths,"  the  mean- 
ing is  clear  and  intelligible.  Jesus  had  rested  in  the  tomb  during 
the  whole  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  and  rose  therefrom  early  on  the 
first  of  the  Christian  Sabbaths,  viz.,  Sunday  morning,  the  Lord's 
day.    A  reference  to  the  writings  of  the  early  Fathers  of  the 


THE  BIBLE.  ^3 

church  show  this  to  have  been  the  interpretation  given  by  those- 
living  nearest  to  the  days  of  the  apostles;  and  Bede,  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  historian,  in  book  3,  chapter  25  of  his  History,  writing  of 
Eaatei^/iay  and  St.  John  the  Revelator,  says,  "And  when  that  day 
cam^i^the  Lord's  day,  then  called  the  first  after  the  Sabbath." 
The  word  "then"  refers  to  the  time  of  St.  John,  and  proves  that  in- 
664  A.  D.  the  Bible  was  better  understood  than  it  was  a  thousand- 
years  later.  '''^  ,Liir//i>i  ioi  b-^ui 

From  these  examples  it  is  seen  that  the  d'ocMhe"6f  Ibkptisiif^ 
by  immersion  has  been  weakened  by  mistranslations,  and  by  the  intro- 
duction of  a  foreign  word  into  the  English  language,  instead  of  its 
proper  synonym  or  meaning;  whilst  an  unauthorized  interpolation 
and  mistranslation,  as  in  the  instances  given  in  connection  with  the 
Sabbath,  has  formed  a  basis  for  the  building  up  of  a  sect.  Hundreds 
of  such  sects  have  been  formed  by  private  interpretations  of  un- 
learned men,  who,  while  denying  the  possibility  of  new  revelation, 
have  accepted  as  inspired,  a  translation  of  the  scriptures  made  by 
men.    • 

This  is  not  written  in  a  spirit  hostile  to  the  King  James  trans- 
lation, as  a  whole.  The  various  books  comprising  the  Bible  were 
written  under  the  direction  and  inspiration  of  God,  and  the  eighth 
article  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day  Saints  declares 
that  "We  believe  the  Bible  to  be  the  word  of  God,  as  far  as  it  is 
translated  correctly."  Our  Father  has  given  us  the  keys  whereby 
we  can  understand  for  ourselves;  and  where  doubt  occurs,  let  us 
go  back  to  the  original  or  earliest  copies,  and  with  the  aid  of  his 
Holy  Spirit,  and  through  his  living  oracles — our  prophets,  seers  and 
revelators — we  can  arrive  at  the  truth.  The  King  James  transla- 
tion was  the  work  of  fallible  men;  and  I  submit,  from  the  instances 
given,  that  in  some  points  mistakes  were  made.  We,  as  individuals 
and  as  sowers  of  the  word,  must  therefore  follow  Tyndale's  advice 
— go  back  to  the  earliest  available  copies. 

I  believe  it  is  important  that  our  missionaries  should  thor- 
oughly understand  and  appreciate  the  cause  and  origin  of  many  of 
the  mistakes  made  in  what  is  considered  the  standard  translation 
of  the  Bible,  and  thus  be  prepared  to  support  in  argument,  if  neces- 
sary, our  eighth  Article  of  Faith.  Such  knowledge  largely  explains 
the  present  divided  condition  of  the  Christian  world,  each  of  the 


664  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 

rival  sects  cryinp:,  "Lo,  here  is  Christ."  The  devil  is  the  author  of 
all  contentions  and  division,  and  although  the  translators  of  1611, 
in  their  revision,  endeavored  to  put  forth  a  Bible  which  should  be 
acceptable  to  the  two  great  religious  parties  of  that  day,  yet 
they  failed  to  preserve  peace,  unity  and  concord.  On  almost  every 
page  of  the  history  of  Christendom,  there  is  evidence  of  the  devil's 
handiwork.  Wherefore,  in  the  words  of  Micah,  "The  heads  thereof 
judge  for  reward,  and  the  priests  thereof  t'each  for  hire,  and  the 
prophets  thereof  divine  for  money;  yet  will  they  lean  upon  the 
Lord,  and  say,  Is  not  the  Lord  among  us?" 


THE  BABY'S  LESSON. 


She  was  only  a  golden-haired  little  tot,  barely  two  years  old. 
But  she  was  so  bright  and  quick,  so  dainty  and  sunny  that  when 
she  was  taken  sick,  the  whole  house  seemed  in  mourning.  "How 
is  baby?"  asked  papa,  forlornly,  as  he  came  in  at  night.  Dot  heard 
him,  for  the  nursery  was  just  at  the  head  of  the  stairs,  and  the 
door  was  open.  And  back  came  a  faint  little  voice,  half  pleading, 
half  laughing,  half  commanding,  "Peak  as  'oo  do  when  'oo're  laugh- 
ing, papa!"  That  was  the  baby's  lesson,  and  the  whole  household 
remembered  it,  even  after  Dot  was  all  well  again.  It's  hard  to 
make  the  voice  cheerful,  and  the  face  sunny,  at  all  times.  But  it  is 
pleasanter  and  more  helpful  for  those  around  us  when  we  do. — 
Selected  from  Herald  of  Union,  Mammoth,  Utah. 


ADVENTURES   OF  A   PIONEER. 


EMBRACING  THE  STRUGGLES  AND  TRIUMPHS  OF  A 
LONG  AND  BUSY  LIFE. 


BY   HON.   JOHN  M.   HORNER,   OF  PAAUILO,   HAWAH. 


III.— WEALTH  IN  CALIFORNIA   FARMING. 

In  the  beginning  of  January,  1850,  my  brother  William  came 
to  me  by  the  way  of  Panama,  consuming  six  months  time  on  the 
journey.  By  the  blessing  of  heaven  he  escaped  the  cholera  on  the 
isthmus;  his  shipmates  died  by  the  dozens.  He  escaped  starvation 
and  perhaps  a  violent  death,  by  a  fair  wind  springing  up  and  waft- 
ing them  safely  into  Atapulco,  at  the  critical  moment  when  the 
ship's  company  were  about  to  turn  cannibals  and  cast  lots  to  decide 
who  should  be  eaten  first.  He  afterwards  heard  that  since  he  was 
more  fleshy  than  others  of  the  company,  they  were  going  to  make 
the  lot  fall  on  him. 

My  brother  had  also  been  bred  on  the  farm,  was  young,  (about 
twenty-one)  ambitious  and  very  industrious.  I  received  him  as  a 
partner  in  my  business.  We  worked  and  flourished  together  dur- 
ing the  next  four  years,  perhaps  as  no  other  farmers  ever  flourished 
before  in  the  United  States,  in  so  short  a  time.  My  experience, 
my  location,  my  estabhshed  business,  our  skill  and  industry,  to_ 
gether  with  the  property  I  had  acquired,  all  became  capital  in  our 
hands.  We  worked  them  to  the  utmost  of  our  ability,  knowing 
that  we  were  almost  the  only  farmers  in  the  territory  that  year. 
We  knew,  too,  that  there  would  be  a  good  sale  for  all  the  produce 
we  could  raise. 

Fortune  is  said  to  knock  at  least  once  at  every  man's  door. 
We  looked  upon  this  time  and  opportunity  as  the  knocking  at  our 


666  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

door;  she  found  us  at  home.  We  opened  the  door  and  bade  her 
welcome,  thankfully  accepting  her  offer. 

We  extended  our  fence,  inclosing  about  five  hundred  acres. 
Farming  what  we  could,  we  let  to  two  tenants  a  part  of  our  land 
to  be  worked  on  shares,  the  teams,  seed,  and  tools'  being  supplied 
by  us. 

Our  crop  this  year  was  comparatively  large,  and  the  soil  being 
virgin,  the  product  was  of  good  quality.  We  bought  out  our  ten. 
ants  at  harvest  time,  paying  them  over  thirty  thousand  dollars  for 
their  share  of  the  crop. 

Our  gross  sales  this  year  approximated  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars.  Our  onions  sold  for  forty  dollars  per  cental;  to- 
matoes, three  hundred  dollars  per  ton;  potatoes,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  per  ton;  and  other  things  in  proportion.  This  crop 
was  not  grown  and  cared  for  on  flowery  beds  of  ease;  help  was 
scarce  until  harvest  time;  the  fencing  was  obtained  at  great  ex- 
pense and  labor,  as  in  1849.  As  in  that,  so  it  was  this  year. 
Some  parts  of  the  fence  were  weak,  and  had  to  be  guarded;  my 
brother  and  self  did  the  guarding.  Help  being  plentiful  in  the 
fall,  this  crop  was  gathered  without  loss.  We  established  a  com- 
mission house  in  San  Francisco,  under  the  firm  name  of  J.  M. 
Horner  &  Co.,  to  sell  our  own  and  others'  produce.  This  move- 
ment served  us  a  good  purpose  in  this  and  other  years.  Thus 
ended  our  farming  venture  of  1850.  This  year  we  purchased  one 
hundred  acres  of  land  at  the  landing,  on  the  Alameda  river,  and 
laid  out  the  town  of  Union  City  upon  it.  We  made  extensive 
preparations  for  increasing  our  business  in  1851.  We  bought 
some  excellent  farming  land  near  Union  City,  fenced,  built  upon, 
and  farmed  it,  in  addition  to  improving  our  home  farm,  which  was 
ten  miles  away. 

We  bought  teams,  (horses,  mules  and  oxen  which  had  crossed 
the  plains)  imported  agricultural  implements  from  the  eastern 
states,  and  iron  fence  and  wire  from  England,  for  fences.  By  this 
means,  miles  of  fencing  was  quickly,  but  not  cheaply,  constructed, 
as  each  mile  cost  over  one  thousand  dollars. 

This  year  our  crops  were  large,  and  a  ready  market  was  found 
for  all  we  raised,  though  at  reduced  prices  from  former  years, 
since  farmers  had  multiplied.   We  secured  by  purchase  the  steamer 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PIONEER.  667 

Union  to  carry  our  produce  to  market.  This  year  our  gross  sales 
amounted  to  two  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  dollars.  During- 
the  fall  of  this  year,  Professor  Shelton,  a  botanist,  held,  in  San 
Francisco,  the  first  agricultural  fair  ever  held  in  California,  to 
which  I  was  the  largest  contributor.  Some  months  afterwards  I 
received  the  following  letter  and  a  silver  goblet  (the  largest 
premium)  from  the  professor: 

Jno.  M.  Horner,  Esquire: — Although  you  were  recently  presented 
with  the  accompanying  testimonial  of  the  public  appreciation  of  your 
efforts  to  develop  the  agricultural  resources  of  California,  yet  I  cannot 
refrain  from  adding  my  individual  congratulations  to  those  so  universal- 
ly accorded  by  our  fellow  citizens;  if  it  be  but  to  assure  you  that  I  heart- 
ily participate  in  them,  and  fully  recognize  your  right  to  the  title  of 
pioneer  in  this  branch  of  public  industry.  Sir,  it  is  true  that  the  pre- 
mium was  not  awarded  by  me  personally,  nor  by  those  who  could  be  in- 
fluenced by  any  preferences  I  may  have  indicated,  but  I  have  the  con- 
sciousness of  knowing  that  Messrs.  Fremont,  King,  Snyder  and  Saunders, 
whose  pleasing  duty  it  was  to  select  the  most  worthy  of  the  candidates 
for  the  honor,  did  nothing  more  than  to  echo  the  public  voice  in  present- 
ing you  with  this  goblet.  Take  it,  then,  sir,  no  less  as  the  evidence  of 
the  public  esteem,  than  as  proof  of  my  individual  regard;  keep  it  as  a 
memento  of  successful  enterprise,  and  as  a  pledge  of  private  friendship. 
And  believe  that  no  member  of  your  family,  however  remote  may  be  his 
generation  from  our  own,  but  will  recognize  it  as  an  honorable  token  of 
the  worth  of  his  ancestor,  with  more  pride  and  pleasure. 

Sir,  very  truly. 

Your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 
C.  A.  Shelton. 
San  Francisco,  30th  March,  1852. 

The  above  letter  is  copied  here,  as  a  partial  confirmation  of 
my  own  statements.* 


*  John  M.  Horner,  of  San  Jose,  and  George  Q.  Cannon  of  San  Fran-^ 
Cisco,  have  conferred  a  great  favor  upon  Utah,  by  sending  cuttings  of 
choice  varieties  of  apple,  pear,  grape,  gooseberry,  etc.,  etc.,  to  Governor 
Young  who  will  see  that  they  are  carefully  treated. 

Will  Brothers  Cannon  and  Horner  and  others  forward  cuttings  and 
young  trees  of  choice  varieties  by  every  seasonable  mode  of  conveyance?. 
— Extracts  from  Deseret  News,  March,  1856. 


€68  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

We  extended  our  agricultural  operations  in  1852,  by  purchas- 
ing more  farming  lands,  fencing  and  placing  tenants  upon  such  as 
we  did  not  wish  to  use  ourselves.  These  tenants  worked  on  shares. 
After  planting  was  over,  I  sent  my  brother  back  to  New  Jersey, 
on  business,  and  he  brought  back  with  him  my  father  and  mother 
and  all  their  children  and  grandchildren,  two  of  my  wife's  sisters, 
and  a  brother,  and  some  other ,  young  people,  some  twenty-two 
souls.  He  arrived  home  safely,  in  the  fall,  and  in  time  to  take  the 
place  he  had  left  in  the  firm  of  J.  M.  Horner  &  Co.,  to  sell  our 
large  crop  now  ready  for  market.  We  continued  our  energetic 
and  prosperous  career,  buying  more  lands  and  farming  them  our- 
selves, or  letting  them  to  tenants,  until  our  potato  crop  reached 
the  enormous  quantity  of  twenty-two  million  pounds,  in  1853.  We 
had  also  in  that  year  fifteen  hundred  acres  of  wheat  and  barley, 
besides  cabbages,  tomatoes  and  onions  in  quantities.  California 
had  not  only  supplied  herself  with  vegetables  this  (1853)  year,  for 
the  first  time,  but  she  produced  a  large  surplus  which  could  not  be 
sold,  and  was  never  sent  to  market. 

Flouring  mills  not  being  sufficient  in  California  at  this  time, 
we  built  one  at  Union  City,  with  eight  run  of  burrs,  at  a  cost  of 
eighty-five  thousand  dollars,  and  ground  our  grain  and  that  of  others. 

Another  agricultural  fair  was  held  in  1853,  in  which  most  of 
the  first  premiums  were  awarded  to  me.  A  fifty-dollar  silver  pitcher, 
for  best  flour  in  competition  with  seven  other  mills;  a  twenty-five 
dollar  silver  goblet,  for  largest  variety  of  vegetables ;  and  several 
smaller  premiums  were  awarded  me  for  best  vegetables  of  differ- 
ent kinds. 

We  equipped  and  ran  a  stage  line  in  connection  with  our 
steamer,  as  far  up  the  valley  as  San  Jose,  twenty-five  miles.  Thus 
completing  a  through  passenger  line  from  San  Francisco  to  San 
Jose.  We  opened  sixteen  miles  of  public  roads,  mostly  through 
our  own  land,  and  fenced  the  larger  part  on  both  sides. 

These  roads  have  never  been  changed,  save  to  narrow  them 
to  sixty-six  feet.  We  had  fenced  them  one  hundred  feet  wide,  in- 
tending them  for  shade  trees  on  both  sides. 

Money  and  other  values  increased  rapidly  in  our  hands,  and, 
having  more  confidence  in  banks  of  earth  than  in  money  banks,  we 
seldom  permitted  our  deposits  in  the  latter  to  exceed,  at  any  one 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PIONEER.  669- 

time,  thirty  thousand  dollars,  before  we  started  some  enterprise, 
or  invested  in  real  estate.  However,  the  unsettled  state  of  land 
titles  rendered  investments  in  land  almost  as  hazardous  as  deposit- 
ing money  in  commercial  banks,  as  we  found  to  our  cost.  The  United 
States  opposed  all  land  titles,  and  requested  proof  of  their  genuine- 
ness to  be  made  before  its  land  commissioners,  reserving  the  right 
of  appeal  to  its  district  court,  in  the  event  the  commissioners  de- 
cided against  the  government;  and  to  appeal  again  to  its  supreme 
court,  if  the  district  court  decided  against  it.  Thus  years  of  costly 
law  suits,  and  in  some  cases  ruin  to  owners  of  land  titles,  inter- 
vened before  final  settlement.  We  suffered  from  the  law's  delay  in 
settling  titles,  and  from  squatters  keeping  from  us,  by  force,  a 
goodly  portion  of  our  lands,  being  encouraged  to  do  so  by  the  gov- 
ernment; for  as  long  as  the  government  withheld  final  confirmation^ 
the  squatter  continued  to  hold  possession,  however  good  the  title. 
We  suffered  more  mentally  and  financially  during  these  years  from' 
the  above  named  causes,  than  from  all  floods  and  four-footed  ani- 
mals in  former  years. 

When  I  arrived  at  the  mission,  all  the  mission  land  outside 
of  the  buildings  and  a  small  vineyard,  was  believed  to  belong  to 
the  Government,  and  was  placed  temporarily  in  the  care  of  a  Cath- 
olic priest,  as  agent.  To  him  I  applied  for,  and  did  rent,  a  small 
piece  of  land,  but  when  I  commenced  work  upon  it,  I  was  met  by 
an  Indian  who  claimed  the  ownership  or  the  right  to  use  that  land. 
Upon  inquiry  of  those  supposed  to  know,  I  was  satisfied  he  held  a 
right  there;  but  had  no  papers.  So  after  that,  I  dealt  with  him, 
instead  of  with  the  priest.  I  finally  bought  his  claim  for  six  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  raised  my  first  paying  crop  upon  this  land.  Before 
my  second  crop  was  harvested,  a  merchant  living  near,  brought  to 
me  a  map  of  this  land  and  what  was  claimed  to  be  a  provisional 
grant  by  Mexico  to  another  civilized  Indian.  This  annoyed  me,  but 
as  there  were  no  records  within  reach,  and,  rather  than  risk  a  law 
suit,  as  I  had  a  valuable  crop  growing  upon  the  land,  I  acknowl- 
edged his  claim,  and  paid  him  seven  thousand  dollars  for  it.  I  had 
to  borrow  the  money  to  do  it.  This  was  the  first  money  I  had  ever 
borrowed.     I  returned  it  in  a  few  months. 

The  Indian,  before  selling  to  the  merchant,  had  reserved  a 
life-time  right  of  occupancy,  but  as  he  only  wished  to  use  a  small 


670  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

piece  of  the  land,  there  was  no  conflict  between  us.  After  a  few 
years,  he  wishing  to  leave,  I  bought  his  life-right  for  six  hundred 
dollars. 

While  planting  our  1850  crop,  one  Juan  B.  Alvarado  and  one 
Andrew  Pico,  both  ex-governors  of  California,  under  Mexico,  sent 
an  agent  who  presented  to  me  a  title  or  grant  from  the  Mexican 
government  to  these  gentlemen,  of  the  whole  ex-mission  tract, 
containing  thirty  thousand  acres,  including  my  farm,  which  I  had 
bought  three  times  already,  and  wanted  to  sell  me  the  whole.  In 
submitting  these  papers  to  lawyers,  for  their  examinations,  their 
opinion  was  that  the  grant  was  good.  So  there  was  no  alternative 
for  us  but  to  leave,  rent,  or  buy.  After  considerable  hesitancy  on 
our  part,  enquiry,  and  negotiation,  we,  in  connection  with  George 
B.  Tingly,  a  lawyer,  and  E.  L,  Beard,  a  farmer  on  this  mission 
land,  bought  their  claim  for  forty-nine  thousand  dollars,  for  which 
we  gave  our  joint  notes  to  be  paid  at  some  future  time.  When 
the  notes  matured,  neither  Mr.  Tingly  nor  Mr.  Beard  were  able  to 
meet  their  share  of  these  obligations.  I  reluctantly  paid  the  money. 
Mr.  Tingly  deeded  to  me  his  share  of  the  property,  Mr.  Beard 
offered  to  deed  me  his  share,  but  I  permitted  him  to  retain  it.  He 
afterwards  returned  to  me  the  money  I  had  advanced  for  him. 
Some  time  after,  this  grant  was  confirmed  by  the  United  States 
Land  Commission, and  an  appeal  taken  to  the  United  States  District 
Court.  While  this  title  was  being  adjudicated,  the  squatters  took 
possession  of  much  of  these  lands,  particularly  those  inside  of  our 
fences,  which  were  not  cultivated.  We  realized  nothing  from  these 
lands,  excepting  from  such  parts  as  we  had  under  cultivation.  We 
had  fenced  them  at  great  expense,  and  were  paying  yearly  five 
thousand  dollars  taxes.  Confirmed  grants  in  the  lower  court,  with 
good  fences,  did  not  constitute  either  ownership,  or  possession,  ac- 
cording to  the  squatter's  creed  of  justice  and  law. 

Their  creed  appeared  to  be  ''the  good  old  plan,  let  those  take 
who  have  the  power,  and  those  keep  who  can."  No  squatter  would 
buy,  however  cheap  the  land,  as  long  as  he  could  take  by  force 
all  the  well- fenced  land  he  wanted,  without  cost  to  him,  even 
the  taxes  on  the  land  he  occupied  were  paid  by  the  owner  of  the 
title. 

What  was  further  observed,  the  closer  these  squatters  could 


ADVENTURES  OF  A  PIONEER.  671 

get  to  San  Francisco,  the  better  they  liked  it;  and  if  the  land  was 
surveyed  and  staked  into  streets,  blocks,  and  lots,  the  better,  as 
then  they  could  and  did  sell  lots  cheap  to  innocent  parties. 

We  purchased  nineteen  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  a  confirmed 
grant  of  excellent  land  bordering  on  Alameda  River  near  Union 
City,  and  paid  for  the  same  fifty-eight  thousand  five  hundred  dol- 
lars. We  raised  our  heaviest  crops  on  these  lands,  fenced  and 
farmed  them,  ourselves  or  by  tenants.  The  above  comprises  all  our 
purchases  of  real  estate,  in  what  is  now  Alameda  county,  Califor- 
nia. 

The  extent  of  our  property  in  Santa  Clara  county  was  valued 
at  nine  thousand  dollars.  This  property  was  received  by  us  to  settle 
a  debt. 

In  San  Francisco  county,  we  paid  two  hundred  and  eighty-five 
thousand  dollars  for  five  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of 
land  adjoining  the  city  of  San  Francisco,  and  expended  nearly  eight 
thousand  dollars  upon  it  in  surveys,  fences  and  other  improvements. 
One  thousand  and  fifty  acres  of  these  lands  we  surveyed  and  staked 
into  streets,  blocks,  and  lots,  extending  the  streets  of  San  Fran- 
cisco over  it.  It  is  now,  and  has  been  for  over  thirty  years,  a  part 
of  that  flourishing  city.  The  above  includes  all  our  real  estate, 
and  the  price  which  we  paid  for  it, which  was  purchased  by  us  in  Cal- 
ifornia up  to  and  including  1854.  Our  personal  property  consisted 
of  steamer  Union,  costing  eighteen  thousand  dollars;  a  flouring 
mill,  costing  eighty- five  thousand  dollars;  a  stage  line,  warehouses, 
farm  houses,  stables,  out-houses,  thirty  miles  of  fencing,  costing 
nine  hundred  dollars  per  mile,  farming  tools,  and  livestock  of  good 
quality,  and  sufficient  in  number  to  enable  us  to  plant  and  harvest 
our  large  crops  in  good  season. 

The  above  includes  all  the  real  estate  and  personal  property, 
owned  by  us  in  California,  in  1854,  save  it  may  be  a  large  crop  then 
upon  the  land. 

From  the  above  showing  it  may  readily  be  conjectured,  that  I 
was  a  man  of  note,  at  that  time,  or  at  least  a  man  of  liberal  means, 
in  so  young  a  state  as  California  then  was,  and  among  so  few 
people  as  it  then  contained.  By  the  blessing  of  Heaven,  we  had 
produced  this  wealth  from  the  soil  of  a  new  and  untried  country, 
and  no  charge  was  ever  made  that  we  had  acquired  any  part  of  it 


672  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

by  speculation,  or  by  overreaching  our  neighbors  in  trade.  So  the 
credit  due  us  was  readily  granted  by  all  acquainted  with  the  cir- 
cumstances. We  not  only  produced  the  wealth  above  referred  to 
from  the  elements;  but  at  least  double  that  amount  had  been  pro- 
duced, which  we  paid  for  labor,  material  and  other  expenses.  After 
1849,  good  farm  laborers  commanded  seventy  dollars  per  month 
with  board.  Mechanics  were  proportionately  high.  We  employed 
many  of  all  classes;  some  employed  by  us  saved  their  earnings,  and 
thus  laid  the  foundation  for  the  fortunes  they  afterwards  acquired. 

The  position  I  held  in  the  community  at  this  time  made  me 
much  sought  after  as  an  indorser  of  notes,  a  signer  of  bonds,  and 
a  loaner  of  money  to  the  impecunious.  As  I  had  been  raised  in 
purely  a  rural  district  of  New  Jersey,  and  was  unacquainted  even  in 
theory  with  the  "tricks  of  trade,"  the  unwise  course  of  endorsing 
notes,  or  loaning  money  without  adequate  security,  had  never  en- 
tered my  head.  I  loaned  and  endorsed  freely,  hoping  to  do  good 
thereby.  I  have  no  recollection  of  refusing  any  one  asking  for  an 
accommodation,  or  requesting  his  notes  endorsed,  up  to  1854. 

Our  worldly  prospects  at  this  time  were  bright,  and  our  prop- 
erty was  ample  to  gratify  every  wish,  and  was  yearly  increasing.  As 
I  nor  my  brother  ever  drank  strong  drinks,  smoked,  gambled  or 
dissipated  in  any  way,  no  cloud  of  doubt  ever  crossed  our  mental 
visions,  that  our  property  should  not  always  continue  to  increase, 
as  we  attended  strictly  to  business. 

Our  crops  were  large  this  year.  We  viewed  them  as  ample  to 
pay  every  indorsement  and  every  obligation  we  had  out,  as  well  as 
to  pay  the  expense  of  harvesting  and  marketing  them.  Our  prop- 
erty was  unencumbered,  large,  and  our  farming  in  full  operation. 
(to  be  continued). 


AN  EXPERIENCE. 

BY  DAVID  B.  ANDERSON,  STUDENT  IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  UTAH. 


[Every  person  who  knew  the  fun-loving  and  jolly  nature  of  the  late 
Hon.  Aaron  F.  Farr,  a  pioneer  of  the  original  one  hundred  and  forty-three, 
of  1847,  and  for  a  time  judge  of  Weber  County,  a  man  of  sterling  char- 
acter and  sunny  disposition,  will  readily  believe  the  following  amusing 
anecdote  of  him,  related  in  an  English  composition  exercise  by  this  young 
student. — Editors.] 

A  good  many  years  ago  the  late  Judge  Aaron  F.  Farr,  of 
Ogden,  had  a  flock  of  sheep,  of  which  he  was  justly  proud  and 
careful.  He  used  to  send  them  to  a  pasture  several  miles  distant, 
every  morning,  in  charge  of  two  or  three  of  his  sons. 

One  evening,  several  of  the  old  bucks  came  home  covered 
with  mud.  When  he  asked  his  sons  how  it  happened,  they  replied 
that  the  sheep  must  have  fallen  into  the  spring. 

There  being  a  muddy  spring  in  the  pasture,  he  concluded  that 
the  bucks  had  been  fighting  among  themselves,  and  had  pushed 
each  other  in.  But  after  that,  they  frequently  came  home  in  the 
same  condition,  and  his  sons  would  never  explain  the  cause,  so  he 
determined  to  learn  for  himself. 

He  followed  the  boys  to  the  pasture,  one  morning,  and  hid  in 
some  willows,  near  the  spring.  Soon  the  boys  brought  the  sheep 
to  a  large  tree,  they  themselves  coming  to  the  spring. 

One  of  the  boys  got  down  on  his  hands  and  knees,  at  the 
edge  of  the  water  and  morass,  and  jumped  around.  An  old  buck 
saw  him,  and  taking  his  actions  as  a  challenge-signal,  madly  rushed 
at  him.  But  as  soon  as  the  sheep  got  dangerously  near,  the  boy 
quickly  sprang  aside,  letting  the  buck  turn  sommersaults  into  the 
mud  and  water. 


674  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

Judge  Farr  then  appeared  and  severly  scolded  the  boys  for 
acting  in  such  a  manner.  He  sent  the  boys  home,  telling  them 
that  he  would  settle  with  them  later. 

The  boys  left  him,  but  they  did  not  go  home.  They  hid 
themselves  behind  some  willow  trees,  as  soon  as  their  father 
turned  his  head.  After  they  had  gone  out  of  sight,  Judge  Farr 
had  a  good  laugh  to  himself,  to  think  how  comical  the  old  sheep 
looked,  keeling  over  in  the  mud.  He  was  a  jolly  fellow;  he  thought 
he  would  like  to  try  the  same  trick  that  the  boys  had  worked,  so 
he  got  down  in  the  same  place  and  manner  as  his  sons  had  done. 
Another  old  buck  saw  him,  and  came  swiftly,  head  down,  at  him, 
but  the  judge  was  not  spry  enough  to  get  out  of  the  way  in  the 
nick  of  time!     They  both  went  sprawling  into  the  mud  together! 

The  judge  pulled  himself  out,  and  timidly  made  his  way  for 
home,  through  the  fields.  Then  it  was  the  boys'  turn  to  laugh, 
and  they  did,  to  themselves,  of  course. 

After  that  the  sheep  often  came  home  covered  with  mud,  but 
the  judge  said  nothing  further  about  it. 


THE  PROPHESIED  EXODUS. 

(For  the  Improvement  Era.) 


BY  HENRY  E.  HORNE,  OLD  CASTLE,  LEADVILLE,  N.  S.  W.,  AUSTRALIA. 


When  Zion's  Seer  was  soon  to  bear 

The  death  of  shame  his  Master  bore. 
He  bade  the  suff'ring  Saints  prepare 

To  tread  the  wilderness  once  more; 
And  seek  a  refuge,  hallowed. 

Upon  the  Rocky  Mountains'  breast; 
By  living  waters  and  by  dead 

Proclaimed  the  Canaan  of  the  West. 


THE  PROPHESIED  EXODUS.  675 

He  died,  but  with  the  Saints,  bereft, 

His  spirit  sojourned  in  Nauvoo 
To  nerve  the  mighty  leader  left, 

His  more  than  human  work  to  do. 
And  so,  while  ever  to  the  goal 

The  dauntless  Brigham  led  his  band. 
It  was  the  star  of  Joseph's  soul 

They  followed  to  the  Promised  Land. 

By  Jordan's  vale,  in  silent  awe. 

They  stood  at  last,  their  journey  done. 
And,  filled  with  wondrous  thoughts,  they  saw 

The  Salt  Lake  near  the  setting  sun. 
It  seemed  that  solemn  beauty  rayed 

From  heaven,  a  foreshadowing 
Of  the  divine  event  they  prayed. 

The  coming  of  their  Lord  and  King. 

Those  pilgrims  many  years  have  passed. 

Beyond  their  persecutors'  power; 
The  harvest  of  their  labors  vast 

The  sons  of  Zion  reap  for  dower. 
The  desert,  that  through  them  became 

A  garden,  and  the  city  fair 
They  builded  to  their  God,  their  fame 

Through  all  the  ages  shall  declare. 


TALKS  TO  YOUNG  MEN. 


IX.— CHOOSING  A  VOCATION. 

Ad;  act  in  the  living  present! 

Heart  within  and  God  overhead. — Longfellow. 

Young  men  are  always  asking  themselves  the  questions,  What" 
shall  I  do?  What  am  I  good  for?  There  is  scarcely  anything 
they  would  not  do  to  find  out  definitely  what  calling  in  life  they 
are  best  adapted  for,  what  pursuit  they  ought  to  follow.  The  dif- 
ficulty, I  am  inclined  to  believe,  is  not  nearly  so  great  as  they  im- 
agine; and  a  good  deal  of  valuable  time  and  thought  is  wasted  hy 
most  young  men  in  finding  out  what  they  are  good  for.  I  want  to 
point  out,  therefore  a  few  things  that  it  would  be  well  to  keep  in 
mind  while  you  are  looking  for  a  vocation. 

One  or  two  things,  however,  you  must  take  for  granted  as 
certain,  ©n  their  face.  One  is  that  you  will  have  to  do  something- 
The  world  owes  no  one  a  living.  If  you  would  live,  you  must  work.- 
There  is  no  premium  on  idleness;  it  is  rather  on  work.  The  stamp 
of  approval  is  on  the  man  who  works,  the  brand  of  shame  on  the 
idler.  He  that  will  not  work,  says  the  Apostle,  neither  shall  he 
eat.  The  only  road  to  growth,  physical,  intellectual,  spiritual,  is- 
work.  The  first  lesson,  therefore,  which  a  young  man  must  learn, 
and  which  he  must  never  forget,  is,  that  if  he  would  amount  to 
anything  in  the  world,  he  must  toil  hard  and  persistently. 

The  other  thing  he  must  take  for  granted  is,  that  no  one  cant 
hope  to  do  everything;  though  every  one  may  hope  to  do  some- 
thing. The  time  is  past  for  the  "jack  of  all  trades;"  the  day  for 
the  skilled  specialist  is  here.  "What  can  you  do?"  asked  a  college 
president  not  long  ago  of  a  man  who  had  applied  to  him  for  a 


TALKS  TO  YOUNG  MEN.  677 

;position  as  teacher.  "Almost  anything,"  was  the  answer.  And  I 
need  scarcely  add  that  the  young  man  was  not  engaged.  We  en- 
ter too  deeply  into  the  heart  of  things  now-a-days  for  the  mere 
skimmer  to  be  of  much  use  to  the  world.  Division  of  labor  has 
been  pushed  into  every  department  of  human  life,  and  he  only  suc- 
ceeds who  makes  up  his  mind  to  do  some  one  thing,  and  do  it  well. 
But — and  here  is  an  important  and  inspiring  thought — if  no  man 
may  succeed  equally  well  in  several  callings,  it  is  certain,  at  least, 
that  there  is  a  chance  for  him  to  do  well  in  some  one.  Every  per- 
son can  do  something,  if  he  tries  hard,  which  no  one  else  can  do  so 
effectively.  It  is  said  of  one  man  that  the  only  thing  he  could  do 
was  to  balance  two  straws  on  the  end  of  his  nose;  but  he  did  that 
better  than  any  one  else  could:  and  this  was  a  great  triumph. 

Still,  there  is  the  problem  which  you  must  solve:  What  am  I 
good  for?  The  first  answer  that  you  are  likely  to  get  is,  that  you 
are  good  for  nothing.  You  may  be  told  that  you  have  no  talent, 
that  you  could  not  succeed  in  anything,  and  that  you  are  fit  for 
nothing  but  to  hew  wood  and  to  draw  water  for  your  betters. 
Don't  believe  a  word  of  it.  It  is  a  suggestion  from  the  devil,  no 
matter  who  says  it,  and  is  false.  You  are  good  for  something, 
and  if  you  would  do  anything,  you  must  believe  that  you  can  do  it. 
Nay  more,  you  must  believe  that  you  can  do  it  better  than  any 
one  else.  Depend  upon  it,  there  is  nothing  useless  in  God's  world. 
Having  made  up  your  mind  that  you  must  and  can  do  something, 
though  you  will  not  be  able  to  do  everything,  you  are  on  the  high 
road. 

Two  or  three  things,  however,  you  must  keep  in  mind,  from 
now  on. 

In  the  first  place,  see  to  it  that  you  have  some  higher 
motive  than  mere  gain  in  choosing  an  occupation.  Show,  popularity, 
wealth,  more  often  than  not,  divert  the  energies  ©f  young  men  in 
their  choice  of  a  calling.  The  brass  buttons  of  the  street  car  con- 
ductor strike  the  eye  of  the  school  boy;  but  houses  and  lands, 
pomp  and  display,  fine  clothes,  and  money  to  jingle  in  the  pockets, 
allure  too  many  young  men.  That  is  why  some  doctors,  lawyers 
and  college  professors  would  be  in  a  more  suitable  vocation  weed- 
ing the  garden  and  raising  potatoes;  and  also  why  there  are  "mute, 
inglorious  Miltons"   and  "guiltless  Cromwells"  in  many  a  country 


678  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

churchyard.  Not  all  the  gems  have  been  picked  out  of  the  dark  ocean 
caves  since  Gray  wrote  the  "Elegy;"  nor  have  all  the  flowers  blushing 
on  the  desert  ceased  to  grow  there.  Be  sure,  therefore,  that  your 
heart  and  conscience,  unreserved  is  in  your  work.  It  is  not  abso- 
lutely needful  that  you  live,  but  it  is  needful  that  you  live  honor- 
ably. If  you  cannot  find  what  you  want,  don't  sit  down  and  mope 
about  it;  take  the  next  best — but  do  sopaething. 

Then,  don't  be  always  "looking  over  the  edge  of  your  work 
wanting  your  play  to  begin,"  don't  even  take  a  peep,  at  least  while 
y  ou  are  working,  at  the  thing  you  intend  doing  after  a  while.  Do 
now  whatever  you  have  to  do.  Put  your  whole  heart  into  it,  if  it 
is  honorable;  and  if  it  isn't,  quit  before  you  get  contaminated. 
"Love  furthers  knowledge,"  but  it  also  furthers  skill  and  useful- 
ness. If  you're  a  bookkeeper,  don't  jump  from  your  stool  at  quit- 
ting time,  like  a  tiger  springing  from  the  thicket;  if  you're  a  hod- 
carrier,  don't  leave  the  brick  in  the  air  when  the  whistle  blows. 
Otherwise,  you  will  always  remain  a  bookkeeper  or  a  hod  carrier, 
whereas,  you  might  be  the  manager  or  head  mason.  (Don't  think, 
now,  that  I  am  talking  of  bookkeepers  and  brick  layers;  I'm  speak- 
ing only  about  growth.)  The  thing  needful  here  is  to  do  the  work 
well.  You  can't  do  this  well  while  your  eye  is  on  that.  Boy!  car- 
ry that  bucket  of  water  without  spilling  it;  weed  the  garden 
clean  if  you  weed  it  at  all;  do  your  errand  well,  put  all  your  intelli- 
gence and  discretion  into  what  you  are  doing  now.  Moreover, 
don't  be  ashamed  of  your  work,  and  think  it  would  be  more  honor- 
able to  you  to  be  doing  something  else.  You  must  have  a  pride 
in  your  own  work,  and  in  learning  to  do  it  well,  and  not  be  always 
saying,  "There's  this  and  there's  that,  if  I  had  this  or  that  to  do,  I 
might  make  something  of  it."  No  matter  what  a  man  is — he  isn't 
worth  his  salt,  if  he  doesn't  do  well  in  whatever  he  undertakes. 

No  doubt  you  have  been  wondering  all  along  when  I  would 
tell  you  what  you  are  to  choose  as  a  calling,  and  especially  how. 
The  fact  is,  I  don't  think  it  matters  much  what  you  do.  The  whole 
point  is  how  you  do  it.  Of  course,  there  must  be  something  in 
adaptability.  Some  people  doubtless  can  do  this,  others  that.  But 
I  doubt  whether  there  is  as  much  in  individual  talent  as  the  world 
would  have  us  believe.  My  opinion  is  that  Shakespeare  had  some- 
thing about  him  that  would  have  made  him  great  in  any  other  than 


TALKS  TO  YOUNG  MEN.  679 

the  Elizabethan  age,  or  in  any  other  calling  than  the  drama.  And 
so  with  Napoleon,  Washington,  Franklin  and  Lincoln,  Milton  and 
Tennyson,  Mozart  and  Wagner,  Edison  and  Morse.  They  did 
their  work  well — better  than  others — they  tried  to  do  it  better. 
And  so  it  goes.  As  a  general  rule,  anyone  can  do  anything  he 
wants  to  do.  Better  dig  one  acre  than  scratch  one  hundred  and 
sixty.  Better  raise  chickens  and  succeed,  than  have  a  farm  and 
fail. 

Bye  and  bye,  young  men,  if  you  will  have  done  your  work 
well,  by  which  I  mean  put  all  your  best  energies  into  it,  men  will 
look  around  for  you.  You  will  have  made  a  reputation.  The  day 
may  be  long  in  coming,  but  it  will  surely  come,  and  when  it  does» 
it  will  be  well  worth  your  while. 

I  notice  that  in  those  great  universities  of  the  East,  the  pres- 
idents, when  they  had  need  of  a  professor,  looked  around  for  a 
man;  and  it  did  not  matter  much  what  department  of  work  he 
had  been  studying.  If,  for  instance,  a  teacher  of  mathematics 
were  needed,  and  a  man  who  had  been  working  along  the  line  of 
languages  were  chosen,  no  one  thought  anything  about  it.  They 
argued  that  if  he  had  done  his  language  well,  he  would  do  his 
mathematics  well.  The  students  were  required  to  do  a  large  amount 
of  careful,  minute  research  work;  and  if  they  manifested  ability  in 
any  one  study,  it  was  probable  that  their  training  in  that  particu- 
lar branch  would  enable  them  to  conduct  a  course  in  a  different  de- 
partment with  equal  care  and  scholarship.  And  so  it  will  be  with 
you.  People  won't  care  much  whether  you've  been  doing  this  or 
that;  they  will  ask  only  how  you  have  been  doing  it;  and  they  will 
ireason  that  if  you've  done  that  well,  you  will  do  this  well. 

Do  your  work,  then,  so  well  now — this  very  task  you  are  about 
now — that  when  a  person  of  reliability  and  workmanship  is  wanted 
every  eye  will  instinctively  turn  towards  you.  Never  mind  the  fu- 
ture: take  care  of  the  present,  and  all  will  be  well. 


SUGGESTIVE    THOUGHTS   FOR    THE  MILDLY 
SKEPTICAL. 

BY  DR.  J.  X.  ALLEN,  OGDEN,  UTAH. 


III. 

Whence  does  man  derive  his  intelligence?  There  is  an  idea 
prevalent,  among  skeptics  and  agnostics,  that  man  is  the  highest 
product  of  nature,  that  there  exists  no  intelligences  higher  than 
man,  in  any  world  discovered  or  undiscovered,  that  there  is  not 
any  being  in  existence  that  surpasses  him  in  either  mechanism  or 
in  mentality. 

Our  forefathers  believed  that  this  earth  was  the  all-important 
world  of  worlds,  that  the  sun,  moon  and  stars  were  all  secondary; 
that  is,  were  mere  adjuncts  to  this  earth,  that  they  were  made  for 
our  pleasure  and  convenience — mainly  for  light  and  ornamenta- 
tion. 

May  it  not  be  possible  that  the  first  proposition  may  turn  out 
to  be  equally  fallacious  with  the  second?  We  now  realize  that  in- 
stead of  being  the  centre  of  the  solar  system,  and  of  the  universe, 
the  earth,  is  on  a  map  of  the  heavens,  something  like  what  a  fly 
speck  is  on  a  map  of  the  world,  almost  too  insignificant  for  seri- 
ous consideration. 

As  there  are  worlds  hundreds,  nay,  thousands,  of  times  larger 
than  the  earth,  is  it  not  possible,  yea  even  probable,  that  those 
giant-orbs  can  be  and  are  inhabited  by  beings  as  far  in  advance  of 
us  as  we  are  in  advance  of  the  South  Sea  islanders?  If  there  be 
anything  preposterous  in  the  idea  advanced,  I,  for  one,  do  not 
see  it. 

And  again,  many  of  these  mighty,  distant  worlds  are  allowed 


THOUGHTS  FOR  THE  MILDLY  SKEPTICAL.  681 

to  be  many  times  older  than  is  our  earth.  May  not  the  occupants 
of  those  older  worlds  have  a  more  extended  experience  than  we 
have?  We  know  that  the  arts  and  sciences  advance  from  century 
to  century  with  us;  and,  judging  the  unknown  by  the  known,  may 
we  not,  without  doing  violence  to  reason,  suspect  that  an  enlarged 
•experience  in  an  older,  and  far  more  noble  world,  may  result  in  a 
superior  intelligence  ? 

It  is  wonderful  to  contemplate  upon  the  many  and  great 
^changes  that  have  taken  place  in  the  thoughts  and  ideas  of  men 
within  the  space  of  a  few  hundred  years:  When  Sir  Isaac  Newton 
declared  his  belief  that  the  sun  was  as  much  as  five  millions  of 
miles  distant  from  the  earth,  many  astronomers  thought  that  his 
mind  was  weakening.  Five  million  miles!  The  distance  was  too 
great  for  the  mind  to  conceive  of.  We  now  know  that  it  is  nearly 
twenty  times  that  distance,  and  it  is  a  very  close  neighbor,  as  com- 
pared with  the  great  majority  of  the  heavenly  bodies. 

Bacteriology  was  in  its  infancy,  but  a  short  time  ago.  Today, 
the  microscopist  will  show  you  living  creatures,  both  animal  and 
vegetable,  a  thousand  times  more  minute  than  the  ancients  ever 
conceived  of.  It  being  demonstrated  beyond  all  dispute  that  there 
are  innumerable  living  creatures,  thousands  of  times  more  minute 
than  the  ancients  ever  dreamed  of,  is  it  not  strongly  presumptive 
that  there  may  be  living  intelligences  many  times  our  superiors? 

And  now  comes  our  question:  Whence  does  man  obtain  his  in- 
telligence, which  is  so  very  far  in  advance  of  that  of  all  other 
earthly  creatures?  Let  us  look  around  for  a  short  time.  We  have 
seen  that  there  are  signs  of  life  and  intelligence  in  the  most 
minute  particles  of  matter, — not  necessarily  conscious  intelligence, 
but  it  is  there  all  the  same. 

Somebody  has  said  that  all  life  is  the  same,  differing  not  in 
kind  but  in  quantity.  May  it  not  be  the  same  with  intelligence?  A 
man  is  not  conscious  when  he  is  sound  asleep,  but  he  is  alive,  and 
will  shrink  from  an  irritant  just  as  if  he  were  awake.  There  is 
much  talk  just  now  about  sub-consciousness.  May  there  not  be  a 
sub-conscious  state?  May  not  a  sleeping  sub-conscious  condition 
obtain  in  every  molecule  of  matter,  seeing  that  the  molecules  moor 
so  precisely  and  methodically  in  forming  crystals  of  the  many  ele- 
mentary as  well  as  compound  substances?     Yet,  we  cannot  con- 


682  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

ceive  of  man  deriving  his  superior  mind  from  the  mineral  kingdom. 
Neither  can  we  conceive  how  it  can  come  from  the  vegetable 
world;  although  we  know  the  vegetable  to  be  far  in  advance  of 
the  mineral  kingdom.  Do  we,  then,  get  our  superior  minds  from 
the  brute  condition?  Thousands  of  illustrations  of  animal  intelli- 
gence can  easily  be  called  to  mind,  but  it  would  be,  simply,  a  waste 
of  time  and  labor  to  cite  them,  as  every  man  with  a  reflective 
mind  knows  full  well  that  all  good  comes  from  above,  and  not 
from  below. 

All  life,  whether  animal  or  vegetable,  is  maintained  by  the 
supra-mundane  trinity — air,  rain  and  sunshine.  I  take  it  to  be 
axiomatic  that  man's  intelligence  is  no  exception  to  the  rule. 

I  am  aware  that  one  man  will  tell  you  that  our  intellectuality 
is  from  parents  through  heredity,  while  another  will  say  that  it  is 
absorbed  or  manufactured  from  the  food  we  eat;  while  another, 
that  it  is  condensed  experience,  and  that  environment  is  the  chief 
factor  in  making  us  what  v/e  are.  I  leave  these  statements  to  the 
good  sense  of  my  readers,  as  a  discussion  of  them  would  be  too 
tedious  for  these  pages. 

Right  here  let  me  propound  a  few  questions,  one  question  un- 
der varied  circumstances.  Did  you  ever  know  of  a  boy,  wishing  an 
education  in  the  arts,  mechanics  or  the  classics,  being  put  under 
the  tutelage  of  a  master  more  ignorant  than  himself?  Are  not 
children  brought  up  by  parents  wiser  than  themselves?  Do  school- 
boards  employ  teachers  less  advanced  then  the  pupils  who  are 
committed  to  their  charge  ?  In  every  case,  the  good  is  from  above. 
The  food  we  eat  is  manufactured  by  the  vegetable  leaves  out  of 
the  air,  rain  and  sunshine,  with  a  small  admixture  of  mineral  dis- 
solved in  the  soil  by  the  waters  from  above.  The  very  coal  that 
warms  us  in  winter  is,  metaphorically  speaking,  crystalized  sun- 
light! The  very  dews  of  heaven  that  make  our  glorious  country  so 
fruitful  and  Eden- like,  although  their  native  home  is  the  vast  ocean, 
before  they  can  administer  to  our  lives  and  pleasures,  are  first 
lifted  out  of  their  native  depths  by  the  life-giving  rays  of  the  father 
of  light,  to  an  elevation  miles  above  terra  Jirma,  whence  they  de- 
scend to  happify  the  children  of  men. 

Do  we  exaggerate  when  we  say  that  "all  good  comes  from 
above?"    I  think  not.    You  go  to  the  spring  for  water,  you  know 


THOUGHTS  FOR  THE  MILDLY  SKEPTICAL.  683 

that  unless  there  exists  a  fountain  of  water  higher  than  the  spring, 
you  will  come  back  as  you  went — without  the  wherewith  to 
quench  your  thirst.  You  know  that  the  spring  is  but  the  short  arm 
of  an  inverted  syphon.  Your  city  lady  resorts  to  the  hydrant  to 
replenish  your  water  pail;  but,  were  there  not  a  reservoir  situated 
in  a  more  elevated  locality,  you  might  twist  the  faucet  until  dooms- 
day, for  all  the  good  it  would  do  you. 

Do  you  not  think  that  the  rule  holds  good  with  regard  to  the 
human  intellect?  I  opine  that  there  is,  and  of  necessity  must  be, 
a  fountain  of  intelligence  as  much  higher  than  man,  as  the  heavens 
are  higher  than  the  earth,  else  our  efforts  to  exaltation  would  be 
vain  indeed.     This  fountain  of  goodness  we  call  God! 

I  think  I  hear  some  simple  one  asking:  "If  there  be  a  God 
who  is  so  very  wise  and  benevolently  disposed,  why  does  he  not 
teach  us  more  ?  Why  not  advance  us  more  rapidly  in  the  scale  of 
being?"  etc.  While  I  would  not  undertake  to  defend  the  Father  of 
the  human  race,  who  is  too  powerful  to  need  my  feeble  arm,  nor 
would  I  presume  to  offer  excuses  for  his  conduct  towards  his  chil- 
dren, he  being  too  wise  to  need  my  infantile  effort,  yet,  by  way  of 
suggestion,  I  will  ask  a  question:  Why  don't  you  put  your  boy  in 
pants  while  he  is  still  an  infant?  Why  doii't  you  start  your  child 
in  the  eighth  grade,  instead  of  in  the  Kindergarten?  Why  don't 
you  put  the  roof  on  your  house  before  you  secure  the  foundation? 
Why  don't  you  plant  your  grain  before  you  prepare  the  ground,  or 
why  don't  you  grind  your  grain  before  it  is  ripe?  And  there  are, 
0,  so  many  whys  that  I  must  stop,  for  eternity  is  too  short  to  ask 
and  answer  one  tithe  of  the  whys,  that  spring  up  all  around. 

Dear  reader,  I  must  apologize  for  so  long  a  talk,  but  my  ex- 
cuse is,  if  you  will  kindly  accept  it,  I  feel  friendly  toward  you. 
God,  who  made  you,  loves  you,  and  I  want  you  to  believe  that  he 
is,  and  be  reconciled  to  him. 


A  TRIP  TO  CUBA. 

BY  DR.  JOSEPH  M.   TANNER,  SUPERINTENDENT   OF   CHURCH  SCHOOLS. 


I.— FROM  NEW  ORLEANS   TO  HAVANA. 

Since  the  Spanish-American  war,  there  has  been  a  growing 
interest  among  the  American  people,  in  Cuba  and  its  beautiful 
climate,  as  well  as  in  the  commercial  advantages  of  the  island. 
The  city  of  Havana  may  be  reached  by  any  one  of  three  routes. 
The  shortest  and  most  frequent  voyage  is  from  Tampa,  on  the 
coast  of  Florida.  The  distance  is  only  about  three  hundred  and 
fifty  miles,  and  may  be  covered  in  twenty- four  hours.  Vessels 
leave  this  port  three  times  a  week,  and  carry  those  passengers 
who  dread  protracted  voyages  on  the  water.  Every  week  a 
steamer  of  the  Morgan  line  leaves  New  York,  whose  port  is  one 
thousand  two  hundred  and  fifteen  miles  from  Havana.  During  the 
early  fall  and  late  spring,  this  route  is  preferred;  besides,  the  ser- 
vice on  the  Morgan  line  is  said  to  be  the  best.  The  fare  from  New 
York  to  Havana  is  forty  dollars,  first  class,  and  twenty  dollars, 
second  class;  and  it  is  declared  by  many  that  the  accommodations 
of  the  second  class  are  as  good  as  first  class  on  the  other 
steamers. 

Travelers  from  the  west  and  southwest  go  by  way  of  New  Or- 
leans, from  which  city  a  boat  of  the  Southern  Pacific  company 
-embarks  every  Tuesday  afternoon  at  two  o'clock.  The  distance  is 
six  hundred  and  ninety  miles,  and  is  made  in  about  forty-eight 
hours.  During  the  winter  season,  travel  is  heavy,  and  berths  must 
sometimes  be  engaged  weeks  in  advance.  To  meet  the  pressing 
demands  both  of  passenger  and  freight  trafllic,  extra  steamers  are 
frequently  sent.  From  this  port  the  fare  to  Havana  is  twenty  dol- 
lars, return  trip  tickets  thirty-five  dollars.    The  journey  by  way  of 


A  TRIP  TO  CUBA.  685 

New  Orleans  is  of  special  interest  because  of  the  historical  and 
social  importance  which  attaches  to  that  city. 

The  boat  left  on  schedule  time,  and  made  its  voyage  down  the 
Mississippi,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  ten  miles  in  seven 
hours.  The  scenery  on  either  side  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Gulf, 
is  a  flat,  level  lowland  consisting  of  the  delta  deposits  of  the  great 
river.  Much  of  the  land  is  cultivated  by  the  negroes  who  live  in 
small  frame  houses  along  the  river.  The  plantations  do  not  exhibit 
any  special  degree  of  thrift,  and  the  lonely  aspects  of  the  sur- 
rounding country,  which  lies  below  the  level  of  the  river,  is  such  as 
to  make  it  habitable  to  the  colored  folks  only.  From  the  ship,  the 
monument  on  the  battlefield  of  Chalmette  may  be  seen,  but  this 
battlefield  is  not  far  south  of  New  Orleans. 

One  interesting  feature  is  the  embankment  on  both  sides  of 
the  river, — the  levees  which  hold  the  water  in  the  spring  within 
the  limits  of  the  stream  and  keep  it  from  overflowing  the  lowland 
plantations.  These  levees  are  more  than  two  hundred  miles  long 
on  both  sides,  and  have  cost  the  United  States  government  millions 
of  dollars.  Just  before  the  river  reaches  the  gulf,  it  is  divided, 
but  the  main  part  of  the  stream  is  confined  by  levees  within  nar- 
row limits.  The  result  is  that  the  stream  is  rapid  and  deep,  and 
scours  the  bottom  of  the  channel  so  as  to  permit  the  largest  ships 
afloat  to  pass  on  up  to  New  Orleans.  This  navigable  condition 
of  the  river  means  much  to  the  future  of  New  Orleans,  in  view  of 
the  certain  construction  of  the  Panama  Canal  in  the  near  future. 

Near  the  river's  mouth  is  the  quarantine  station  where  all 
incoming  passengers  must  go  ashore,  and,  if  necessary,  be  fumi- 
gated by  the  extensive  apparatus  prepared  for  that  purpose.  Dur- 
ing the  late  spring  and  summer,  passengers  from  South  American 
ports  are  detained  for  weeks  sometimes.  Generally  the  doctor 
feels  your  pulse,  looks  you  in  the  eyes,  and  lets  you  go  by. 

The  Mississippi  is  heavily  charged  with  soil  which  is  carried 
out  into  the  gulf  for  miles.  The  stream  of  the  river  is  then  caught 
by  the  gulf  stream,  and  carried  in  an  easterly  direction  to  the  west 
coast  of  Florida.  It  is  there  deflected  southward  and  brought  out 
into  the  ocean  by  way  of  the  Florida  Straight,  through  which  the 
Gulf  Stream  rushes  like  a  mighty  river  into  the  Atlantic.  The 
width  of  this  stream  is  from  forty-five  to  one  hundred  miles,  and 


686  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

it  flows  at  the  rate  of  two  and  a  half  to  five  miles  an  hour.  The 
velocity  is  much  greater  in  the  center  than  at  the  edges. 

The  steamer  was  literally  packed.  When  the  bell  rang  for 
supper,  after  we  had  been  on  the  river  for  about  five  hours,  there 
was  a  rush  for  the  dining  room.  Not  more  than  half  could  be  ac- 
commodated at  the  first  table,  and  there  was  much  disappointment 
and  complaint.  The  stewart  was  patient  and  informed  the  passen- 
gers that  such  a  mishap  should  not  arise  again,  and  promised  them 
that  at  all  subsequent  meals,  everyone  who  cared  to  do  so  should 
be  permitted  to  come  to  the  first  table.  His  calculations  were  ac- 
curate, for  food  went  a  begging  all  the  way  from  New  Orleans  to 
Havana  after  the  first  supper. 

There  was  a  strong  wind  from  the  south,  and  while  it  created 
scarcely  a  ripple  on  the  river,  it  produced  the  wildest  waves  on  the 
gulf.  The  ship  was  tossed  about  so  suddenly  and  vehemently  that 
the  passengers  had  little  warning  of  what  was  coming.  They  rushed 
for  their  berths,  paying  tribute  to  Neptune  as  they  went.  What 
happened  from  the  time  the  ship  entered  the  gulf  till  it  came  in 
sight  of  Cuba,  after  a  voyage  of  forty  eight  hours,  is  merely  hear- 
say. It  was  known  that  all  contention  for  first  place  at  the  table 
had  ceased,  and  solitude  reigned  everywhere.  There  were  abroad 
all  sorts  of  people.  Those  who  most  interested  the  passengers 
were  American  investors  in  lands  and  in  commercial  enterprises 
of  Cuba.  They  had  much  to  say  about  stock-raising,  the  boom 
prices  of  lands;  and  the  small  fortunes  speculators  had  made  in  a 
remarkably  short  time.  It  was  evident  that  the  American  spirit 
of  adventure  and  speculation  had  found  its  way  to  the  island. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  second  day,  and  after  a  rough  voy- 
age, the  ship  came  in  sight  of  land.  To  our  left,  the  Morro  Castle 
rose  high  above  the  bay,  a  silent  witness  of  many  stormy  scenes  in 
Cuban  life.  To  the  right  was  the  picturesque  city  of  Havana,  with 
low  stone  houses  painted  in  a  variety  of  colors.  Soon  we  passed 
the  neck  of  the  harbor  and  our  ship  anchored  near  the  wreck  of 
the  Maine.  There  was  a  hasty  examination  of  sanitary  conditions 
on  the  ship  by  health  officers,  and  we  were  taken  by  a  small  steam 
launch  to  the  shore. 

The  Cuban  officers  were  courteous,  and  created  no  unnecessary 
delay  or  irritation  among  the  passengers.      Under  Spanish  rule  it 


A  TRIP  TO  CUBA.  687 

was  necessary  to  have  a  passport  in  order  to  visit  the  island.  A 
fee  had  to  be  paid  and  an  exaction  was  made  that  the  person  would 
leave  within  three  months.  A  second  fee  was  charged  when  the 
passport  was  returned.  There  is  really  less  annoyance  in  landing 
at  Havana  than  is  experienced  in  New  Orleans,  where  one  is  likely 
to  run  across  a  French  official,  who  is  often  petty  and  unnecessa- 
rily exacting.  At  Havana  there  were  a  number  of  interpreters 
and  hotel  runners.  Some  Americans  have  gone  there  to  open 
boarding  houses  on  the  American  plan.  The  better  hotels  are  quite 
expensive.  The  rooms  are  airy,  and  the  open  dining  rooms  are 
characteristic  of  tropical  lands.  Accommodations  and  service  are, 
of  course,  inferior  to  the  better  hotels  in  the  United  States.  There 
is  a  growing  desire  to  speak  English,  for  it  is  evidently  seen  that 
the  tourist  promises  to  be  one  of  Cuba's  best  crops. 
(to  be  continued.) 


DOES  AN   EDUCATION   PAY? 


Does  it  pay  to  make  life-long  friendship  with  bright,  ambitious 
young  people,  many  of  whom  will  occupy  high  places  later  on? 

Does  it  pay  to  become  familiar  with  all  the  lessons  that  history 
and  science  can  teach  as  to  how  to  make  life  healthy  and  successful? 

Does  it  pay  to  become  an  enlightened  citizen,  able  to  see  through 
the  sophistries  of  political  claptrap  and  vote  intelligently  on  public  mat- 
ters? 

Does  it  pay  to  change  a  bar  of  rough  pig  iron  into  hairsprings  for 
watches,  thus  increasing  its  worth  to  more  than  fifty  times  the  value  of 
its  weight  in  gold? 

Does  it  pay  to  experience  the  joy  of  self-discovery,  to  open  up  whole 
continents  of  possibilities  in  one's  nature  which  might  otherwise  remain 
undiscovered? 

Does  it  pay  the  sculptor  to  call  out  from  the  rough  block  the  statue 
that  sleeps  in  the  marble,  and  which  shall  tell  ths  story  of  heroism  and 
greatness  to  unborn  generations? 

Does  it  pay  to  have  one's  mentality  stirred  by  the  passion  for  ex- 
pansion, to  feel  the  tonic  of  growth,  the  indescribable  satisfaction  which 
comes  from  the  consciousness  of  perpetual  enlargement? — Success. 


SUNLIGHT. 

{For  the  Improvement  Era.) 

BY   T.   E.   CURTIS,   SALT    LAKE   CITY. 


I  stood  at  yonder  mountain  crest 

Above  the  dark  and  solemn  vale. 
That  rolled  out  to  the  distant  west 

All  restless  in  the  fitful  gale. 
I  heard  the  hostile  skies  applaud 

The  storm-king,  on  his  evil  way, 
Who  spread  his  mighty  wings  abroad, 

And  held  the  flaming  sun  at  bay. 

Then  flow'r-like,  as  I  raised  my  view, 

I  saw  the  sullen  clouds  divide; 
A  golden  flood  came  bursting  through. 

And  fell  across  the  mountain  side! 
And  spread  a  picture  on  the  plain — 

A  symbol  of  the  rival  powers 
That  operate  the  world,  and  fain 

Would  change  these  mortal  lives  of  ours. 

The  clouds  rolled  backward  one  by  one. 

And  the  emerging  scene  was  dressed 
In  all  the  glory  of  the  sun. 

From  flow'ry  vale  to  snowy  crest. 
And  so  it  is  from  surf  to  crown; 

We  see  the  clouds  of  error  furled. 
Letting  the  light  of  heaven  down, 

Spreading  its  glory  o'er  the  world! 


RADIUM. 

BY   DR.   JAMES   E.   TALMAGE,   PROFESSOR   OF    GEOLOGY, 
UNIVERSITY   OF   UTAH. 


It  is  in  response  to  a  special  request  from  the  Editor  of  the 
Era  that  the  writer  ventures  to  present  a  short  article  on  this  in- 
teresting topic;  for  he  freely  acknowledges  that  to  him  so  little  is 
known  regarding  this  new  and  strange  element  that  to  voluntarily 
appear  in  print  on  the  subject  would  be  presumptuous.  The  inter- 
est of  scientists  and  of  thinking  people  of  all  classes  has  been 
aroused  over  the  announcement  of  the  discovery  of  a  new  element  in 
nature,  the  properties  of  which  appear  to  be  not  only  marvelous 
and  novel,  but  in  some  respects  seemingly  contradictory  of  our 
fundamental  conceptions  regarding  matter  and  force. 

Radium  has  been  described  as  the  most  powerful  of  all  known 
radio-active  substances;  it  may  be  well  therefore  to  enquire  first 
as  to  the  nature  of  radio-activity  in  general.  For  nearly  a  decade 
past  it  has  been  known  that  a  few  substances  have  the  property  of 
emitting  continuously  certain  rays  of  force  which  act  in  some  of 
their  effects  like  light  rays,  though  they  penetrate  bodies  that  are 
opaque  to  ordinary  light.  These  strange  rays  act  upon  a  photo- 
graphic plate  as  does  light;  but  the  plate-holder  used  with  the 
camera  is  no  protection  against  them,  for  they  penetrate  the  wood 
and  hard  rubber,  and  affect  the  plate  as  if  it  had  been  exposed 
uncovered.  Even  a  casing  of  thin  metal  fails  to  stop  these  rays, 
though  thick  metal,  particularly  lead,  is  an  effective  barrier  to  the 
passage  of  the  rays  for  short  periods  of  time.  Furthermore,  these 
rays  render  the  air  and  other  gases  through  which  they  pass,  pow- 
erful conductors  of  electricity.     Unlike  light,  these  new  rays  can- 


690  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

not  be  reflected  or  refracted  by  ordinary  means.  In  1896,  Bec- 
querel,  a  scientist  of  acknowledged  ability,  demonstrated  that  the 
somewhat  rare  metal  uranium,  and  all  its  compounds,  emit  these 
rays  continuously.  They  are  known  as  the  Becquerel  rays.  A 
radio-active  substance,  therefore,  is  one  that  is  capable  of  spon- 
taneously emitting  Becquerel  rays.  By  the  labors  of  Schmidt,  M. 
and  Mme.  Curie  of  Paris,  and  Debierne,  it  has  been  proved  that  in 
addition  to  uranium,  other  elements  such  as  thorium,  polonium,  and 
the  newly  discovered  actinium  and  radium  are  strongly  radio-active- 

Practically  all  of  these  radio-actives  are  associated  in  nature 
with  the  uranium  minerals,  occurring  therewith  in  quantity  infini- 
tesimally  small.  Polonium  is  found  with  bismuth  in  association 
with  uranium  minerals;  it  has  not  been  clearly  proved  that  poloni- 
um is  indeed  a  separate  and  new  element.  Actinium  occurs  with 
elements  of  the  alkali- earth  group  in  uranium  minerals,  and  ra- 
dium is  associated  with  barium  in  the  same  class  of  minerals. 

In  a  general  way  the  degree  of  radio-activity  possessed  by  any 
mineral  or  mixture  of  minerals  is  in  direct  proportion  to  the  amount 
of  the  radio-active  element  present.  The  discovery  of  radium  was 
facilitated  by  the  knowledge  of  this  fact.  To  M.  Curie  and  his 
talented  wife  is  due  the  honor  attached  to  this  important  dis- 
covery. 

In  1898  Mme.  Curie  was  engaged  in  research  as  to  radio- 
activity among  the  elements.  She  demonstrated  that  but  very  few 
elements  are  even  feebly  radio-active;  but  to  her  surprise  she 
found  certain  uranium  minerals  (notably  pitchblende,  or  uraninite, 
and  carnotite)  to  be  more  strongly  radio-active  than  the  contained 
amount  of  uranium  would  explain.  This  led  to  a  search  for  un- 
known radio- actives  in  the  uranium  minerals;  and  radium  was 
found — the  only  strongly  radio-active  substance  thus  far  fully 
proved  to  be  a  new  element.  As  stated,  it  exists  in  very  small 
quantity  in  the  uranium  minerals;  and  moreover,  the  process  of  ex- 
traction is  long,  tedious,  and  expensive;  the  product  therefore  is 
of  high  cost.  In  France,  radium  is  obtained  from  the  residues  left 
after  extracting  the  uranium  from  pitchblende;  and  according  to 
M.  Curie's  statement  these  residues  contain  from  two  to  three  deci- 
grams (three  to  four  grains)  of  radium  per  ton.  Much  has  been 
said  through  newspapers  and  magazines  regarding  the  fabulous 


RADIUM.  691 

cost  of  this  rare  product.  Statements  of  cost  at  so  much  per  ounce 
or  pound  are  practically  meaningless,  unless  the  intensity  of  the 
radium  mixture  is  specified,  as  the  radio-activity  depends  upon  the 
actual  amount  of  the  radium  element  present.  A  prominent  busi- 
ness firm  dealing  in  chemical  supplies  recently  offered  the  writer 
ten  milligrams  (about  fifteen  hundredths  of  a  grain)  of  radium  ba- 
rium chloride  for  three  hundred  dollars.  This  was  guaranteed  to 
possess  a  radio-activity  of  one  million;  that  is,  it  was  a  million 
times  as  strong  in  radio-active  properties  as  metallic  uranium. 
This  cost  is  at  the  rate  of  nearly  two  thousand  dollars  per  grain. 
It  is  of  local  interest  to  note  that  the  radium  thus  far  pre- 
pared in  America  has  been  obtained  from  uranium  ores  found  in 
western  Colorado  and  contiguous  parts  of  Utah.  The  material 
mostly  used  is  carnotite — a  vanadate  of  uranium  and  potassium. 
In  the  laboratory  of  the  university  of  Utah  the  writer  has  obtained 
radium  chloride  by  a  comparatively  simple  treatment  of  a  new 
vanadium-uranium  mineral  recently  discovered  in  the  Uinta  moun- 
tains. 

Radium,  as  an  element,  that  is  to  say,  separate  and  free  from 
all  combinations  or  mixtures,  has  never  yet  been  prepared.  It  is 
doubtful  if  any  pure  compound  of  this  element  has  been  produced. 
The  radium  product  as  prepared  is  really  radium  chloride  mixed 
with  barium  chloride,  the  radio-active  intensity  increasing  as  the 
contaminating  barium  salts  are  removed.  Radium-barium  chloride 
of  one  million  five  hundred  thousand  intensity  as  compared  with 
the  uranium  standard  has  been  prepared. 

As  to  the  properties  of  this  newly  discovered  element,  not  much 
is  yet  definitely  known,  but  the  little  already  proved  is  sufliciently 
astounding.  Radium  is  known  to  emit  spontaneously  and  without 
cessation,  both  light  and  heat,  besides  other  rays  of  force  not  di- 
rectly observable  by  the  unaided  senses,  but  even  more  remarkable 
than  the  readily  recognizable  light  and  heat. 

A  photographic  plate,  enclosed  in  the  tightest  of  plate- 
holders,  or  protected  against  light  as  are  the  X-ray  plates  by 
wrappings  of  orange  and  black  papers,  is  affected  as  if  exposed  to 
daylight,  when  a  tube  containing  a  radium  compound  is  brought 
near,  even  though  the  tube  be  hermetically  sealed.  The  rays  so 
emitted  pass  through  the  walls  of  the  sealed  tube  and  penetrate 


692  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

the  wrappings  of  the  plate  or  the  hard  rubber  slide  of  the  plate- 
holder.  Metals  are  less  readily  penetrated  by  the  radium  rays 
than  are  most  other  bodies;  if  therefore  metallic  objects,  such  as 
coins,  keys,  pieces  of  sheet  lead,  etc.,  be  placed  between  the  radium 
tube  and  the  plate,  a  picture  of  these  objects  appears  when  the 
plate  is  developed  in  the  usual  way.  Such  a  picture  is  in  reality  a 
shadow-graph,  the  part  of  the  plate  protected  by  the  metal  piece 
being  unaffected  by  the  radium  rays,  while  the  unprotected  parts 
are  acted  upon  as  if  by  light.  To  produce  such  a  picture,  an  ex- 
posure of  hours,  days,  or  weeks  may  be  required,  according  to  the 
radio-active  intensity  of  the  radium-bearing  material. 

Now,  as  stated,  uranium  and  other  radio-actives,  behave  in  a 
similar  way.  Radium,  however,  emits  not  only  Becquerel  rays, 
acting  through  glass,  paper,  etc.,  but,  in  addition  thereto,  emana- 
tions of  substance  analagous  to  a  highly  attenuated  gas,  which 
emanations  do  not  penetrate  solid  bodies,  but  which  may  be  con- 
ducted through  a  tube  as  may  any  gas.  The  writer  has  produced 
scores  of  shadow-graphs  as  described,  using  radium-bearing  mate- 
rial of  low  intensity  obtained  from  Utah  minerals;  and  has  also 
produced  pictures  by  the  emanations  from  the  same  material,  by 
employing  the  following  simple  process:  A  glass  bulb  containing  a 
small  amount  of  radium-bearing  chloride  was  placed  inside  a  thick- 
walled  cylinder  of  lead.  The  cylinder  was  closed  below  by  a  base 
of  thick  lead,  and  above  by  a  lid  of  the  same  material.  The  lid 
was  perforated  to  admit  the  end  of  a  glass  tube  about  six  inches 
long  bent  at  a  right  angle;  the  inner  end  of  this  tube  was  at- 
tached by  hermetic  sealing  to  the  bulb  containing  the  radium.  The 
tube  was  bent  downward  near  its  outer  end,  and  was  secured  in  the 
mouth  of  a  bottle  by  a  tightly-fitting  rubber  stopper.  Inside  this 
bottle  a  photographic  plate  was  placed,  properly  protected  by 
opaque  wrappings  against  any  possible  effect  of  ordinary  light;  on 
this  plate,  outside  the  paper  wrapping,  a  disc  of  metal  v/as  held  in 
place  by  a  rubber  band.  Plates  similarly  prepared  were  placed 
inside  the  lead  cylinder,  and  others  were  held  in  place  on  the  out- 
side of  the  cylinder.  After  an  exposure  of  a  few  days,  during 
which  the  apparatus  was  kept  in  a  light-tight  box,  the  plates  were 
developed.  Of  course,  the  plates  from  the  inside  of  the  cylinder 
showed  the  usual  shadow- graphs— due  to  the  radiations  from  the 


RADIUM.  693 

radium  inside  the  bulb,  which  radiations  had  to  penetrate  the  glass 
walls  of  the  bulb  and  the  several  layers  of  paper  covering  the 
plates.  The  plates  held  in  contact  with  the  outside  of  the  lead 
cylinder  showed  no  picture,  plainly  proving  that  the  radiations  had 
failed  to  penetrate  the  leaden  walls.  But  the  plate  from  the 
bottle  showed  the  strongest  picture  of  all.  This  effect  must  be  due 
to  the  emanations  of  actual  substance  from  the  radium  passing 
through  the  twice-bent  tube,  and  reaching  the  plate  in  the  bottle. 

Radium  compounds  of  high  intensity  emit  light  rays  continu- 
ously. Of  this  phenomenon  M.  Curie  has  written:  "The  salts  of 
radium  are  spontaneously  luminous.  It  might  be  said  that  they 
make  themselves  luminous  by  the  action  of  the  Becquerel  rays 
they  emit.  Anhydrous  chloride  and  bromide  of  radium  are  the 
salts  that  give  the  most  intense  luminescence.  They  may  be  ob- 
tained so  luminous  that  the  light  can  be  seen  in  full  daylight.  The 
light  emitted  by  the  salts  of  radium  recalls  in  tint  that  from  a  fire 
fly.  The  luminosity  of  the  radium  salt  decreases  with  time  with- 
out ever  completely  disappearing,  and  those  that  were  colorless  at 
first  become  gray,  yellow  or  violet."* 

Many  substances,  both  mineral  and  organic,  become  luminous 
if  brought  near  a  tube  containing  radium;  among  such  are  zinc 
silicate,  zinc  sulphide,  and  the  diamond.  This  effect  may  be  util- 
ized as  a  means  of  distinguishing  between  true  diamonds  and 
spurious  imitations,  the  real  gem  becoming  strongly  phosphores- 
cent, while  the  paste  counterfeit  remains  dark  and  dull  in  the 
presence  of  the  searching  radium  rays.  A  new  device,  known  as 
the  spinthariscope,  reveals  in  a  very  pretty  way  the  effect  of  radi- 
um inducing  luminosity  in  other  bodies.  A  small  amount  of  the 
sensitive  material,  zinc  sulphide  for  example,  is  spread  upon  a  metal 
surface,  called  the  screen;  a  particle  of  radium  is  placed 
upon  this,  or  is  held  about  a  sixteenth  of  an  inch  above  the  pre- 
pared surface.  If  the  screen  be  then  examined  through  a  lense 
of  medium  power  in  a  dark  room,  a  marvelous  sight  presents  itself. 
The  surface  of  the  screen  appears  blazing  with  luminous  points, 
apparently  in  rapid  motion.  The  appearance  has  been  likened  by 
some  to  that  of  a  shower  of  meteorites,  and  by  others  to  the 


See  American  Chemical  Journal,  April,  1904,  page  422. 


694  IMPRO VEMENT  ERA. 

luminous  streaming  of  the  aurora  borealis.  No  observer  who  has 
once  witnessed  this  blazing  display  of  atomic  activity  will  soon 
forget  the  impressive  effect.  The  luminosity  of  the  screen  ap- 
pears to  be  the  result  of  an  actual  bombardment  of  the  phosphor- 
escent material  by  emanations  from  the  radium. 

But  not  only  is  radium  capable  of  exciting  luminosity  in  other 
bodies,  it  imparts  to  its  surroundings  the  radio-active  power  in 
practically  all  of  its  phases.  Thus,  a  box  of  paper,  wood,  or 
metal,  in  which  a  sealed  tube  containing  radium  has  been  allowed 
to  lie,  becomes  so  radio-active  as  to  readily  affect  a  photographic 
plate,  and  may  retain  this  property  for  days  and  weeks.  The 
walls  and  furniture  of  a  laboratory  in  which  radium  experiments 
have  been  conducted,  and  even  the  persons  and  clothing  of  the 
operators,  become  thus  excited  to  radio-activity. 

As  before  stated,  radium  compounds  emit  ordinary  heat  rays; 
this  they  do  continuously,  and  seemingly  without  loss  of  sub- 
stance. The  heat  so  radiated  has  been  carefully  measured,  and  we 
know  with  fair  accuracy  the  powers  of  the  new  element  in  this 
respect.  M.  Curie  demonstrated  that  seven-tenths  of  a  gram  of 
radium  bromide  inclosed  in  a  small  bottle  maintained  a  tempera- 
ture three  degrees  higher  than  that  of  another  bottle  contain- 
ing no  radium  but  otherwise  kept  under  the  same  conditions.  As 
to  the  quantity  of  heat  thus  liberated,  it  has  been  demonstrated 
that  radium  gives  off  continuously  heat  sufficient  to  melt  its  own 
weight  of  ice  every  hour.  Freshly  prepared  radium  salts  emit  but 
little  heat;  their  power  in  this  respect  increases  with  time,  until  a 
maximum  effect  is  reached  in  about  a  month,  after  which  the  heat 
radiations  are  practically  constant. 

Radium  rays  produce  certain  physiological  effects.  If  a  ves- 
sel containing  a  radium  salt  be  brought  near  the  closed  eyes  or 
placed  against  the  side  of  the  head,  the  eye  itself  becomes  lumi- 
nous and  the  sensation  of  light  results,  though  in  reality  the  light 
is  developed  within  the  eye.  As  to  the  effect  of  these  rays  on  the 
tissues  of  the  body,  M.  Curie  has  written:  "The  rays  of  radium 
act  on  the  epidermis.  If  we  place  on  the  skin  for  a  few  minutes 
a  bulb  containing  radium  no  particular  sensation  is  felt.  But 
fifteen  or  twenty  days  afterward  it  produces  a  reddening  of  the 
skin,  then  a  slough  in  the  place  where  the  bulb  was  applied.      If 


RADIUM.  695 

the  action  of  the  rays  be  long  enough  there  is  finally  formed  a 
sore  that  takes  several  months  to  heal.  The  action  of  the  rays 
from  radium  is  analogous  to  that  produced  by  the  Roentgen  rays. 
The  attempt  has  been  made  to  utilize  this  action  in  the  treatment 
of  lupus  and  cancer.  The  radium  rays  also  act  upon  the  nervous 
centers  and  cause  paralysis  and  death."* 

The  eminent  investigator  spoke  from  painful  experience  in 
describing  the  sores  produced  by  radium.  Prof.  Becquerel  is  said 
to  have  suffered  for  weeks  from  a  painful  and  dangerous  slough- 
ing sore  on  the  body  resulting  from  carrying  in  his  waistcoat 
pocket  a  small  tube  containing  radium.  Plainly  then,  radium  is  a 
dangerous  substance  to  handle.  According  to  present  knowledge 
on  the  subject,  leaden  vessels  with  thick  walls  are  the  safest  con- 
tainers of  radium  tubes.  It  is  surprising  that  the  destructive 
effects  of  radium  rays  on  the  body  tissues  are  not  apparent  until 
days  after  exposure. 

Experiments  have  been  conducted  to  determine  the  effect  of 
radium  rays  on  the  lower  animals.  M.  Danysz  is  prominent  in  this 
part  of  the  investigation.  He  suspended  a  tube  containing  a  frac- 
tion of  a  grain  of  radium  chloride  over  a  cage  of  mice.  The 
tube  was  removed  after  three  days.  Soon  after,  the  mice  began 
to  shed  their  fur;  some  of  them  became  blind,  and  one  by  one 
they  died.  Fatal  effects  were  produced  among  chickens,  guinea 
pigs,  rabbits  and  other  animals.  Plant  tissues  are  destroyed  by  a 
short  exposure  to  radium  compounds. 

Among  the  most  surprising  of  these  physiological  effects  are 
the  instances  of  arrested  development  resulting  from  radium  ex- 
posure. It  is  reported  that  M.  Danysz  exposed  the  larvse  of  a 
small  moth  to  the  radium  rays  for  a  few  hours.  In  the  course  of 
several  weeks  most  of  the  larvis  so  exposed  died,  but  a  few  lived 
on,  as  larvse.  Other  larvse  of  the  same  colony,  which  had  not 
been  exposed  to  the  radium,  passed  into  the  pupa  stage,  emerged 
as  moths,  produced  eggs  which  in  turn  developed  another  gener- 
ation of  larvse,  pupte,  and  moths;  and  so  on  through  a  third  gen- 
eration, while  the  larvse  that  had  been  exposed  to  the  radium  con- 
tinued to  live  as  larvae  without  progress  or  development.     Modifi- 


*  See  American  Chemical  Journal,  before  cited,  pages  422,  423. 


696  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

cation  of  form  among  certain  animals  has  been  effected  by  radium 
rays,  such  as  to  produce  aberrant    individuals  suggesting   new 

species. 

An  experiment  recently  conducted  by  the  writer  is  somewhat 
interesting,  though  not  productive  of  significant  results.  Some 
small  white  ants,  (termites)  we^e  secured,  with  a  quantity  of  the 
earth-mold  in  which  they  had  lived.  A  hundred  termites  were 
placed  in  each  of  four  small  dishes,  each  dish  was  set  in  an  outer 
vessel  containing  a  little  water,  and  loosely  covered  with  a  glass 
disc.  This  arrangement  prevented  the  earth  from  becoming  dry. 
A  tube  containing  about  a  tenth  of  a  grain  of  weak  radium  chloride 
was  left  for  a  few  hours  over  one  of  the  vessels;  a  second  vessel 
was  similarly  exposed;  while  the  other  two  were  kept  away  from 
radium.  On  the  day  following,  about  half  the  termites  from  the 
vessels  subjected  to  the  radium  had  crawled  out  of  the  inner  dish 
and  were  floating  on  the  water  in  the  outer  vessel.  They  were 
returned  to  the  inner  dish.  A  day  later  over  eighty  in  one  dish,  and 
more  than  fifty  in  the  other  were  found  floating  on  the  water,  some 
of  them  dead.  The  living  ones  were  again  replaced.  None  escaped 
into  the  water  after  this,  but  they  gathered  on  top  of  the  mold  in 
the  dish  and  many  died.  In  the  case  of  the  two  lots  not  exposed 
to  the  radium  rays,  none  left  the  inner  dish,  and  they  lived  in  ap- 
parent comfort,  mostly  beneath  the  surface  of  the  mold.  One  of 
these  lots  was  then  exposed  to  the  radium  tube  for  two  hours. 
Later  in  the  day  twenty-four  of  the  termites  had  crawled  from 
the  inner  dish  and  were  floating  on  the  water  in  the  outer  vessel. 
During  the  experimenter's  absence  from  the  laboratory  for  a  few 
days  following  the  last  observations,  the  water  in  the  vessels  dried 
away  and  the  test  was  thus  brought  to  an  end.  It  is  evident  that 
the  ants  experienced  a  disagreeable  effect  from  the  rays, — whether 
analogous  to  light,  heat,  or  some  other  manifestation  of  force,  we 
may  not  know, — and  that  they  tried  to  get  away  from  the  disturb- 
ing cause. 


One  of  the  first  questions  asked  by  those  whose  interest  has 
been  awakened  regarding  radium  is  this — What  is  the  stuff  like? 
Radium-barium  chloride — the  commonest  of  radium  preparations — 
is  a  white  crystaline  powder,  not  unlike  ordinary  table  salt. 


RADIUM.  697 

Another  common  query  is:  Of  what  use  is  radium?  The 
truthful  answer  is  that  at  present  radium  has  no  practical  use. 
The  fact  that  the  substance  emits  both  light  and  heat  has  given 
rise  to  the  popular  supposition  that  it  may  be  used  for  actual 
lighting  and  heating  purposes.  As  already  shown,  even  weak 
radium  salts  are  destructive  to  animal  tissues,  and  continued  ex- 
posure to  radium  rays  would  be  fatal  to  man  and  animals.  Radium 
preparations  of  sufficient  intensity  and  in  quantity  adequate  to 
produce  light  and  heat  for  house  use  would  be  death-dealing. 

Is  radium  then  useless?  No,  its  possibilities  have  not  yet 
been  developed;  its  latent  usefulness  has  yet  to  be  discovered. 
When  one  of  skeptical  mind  was  heard  to  speak  contemptuously  of 
Montgolfier's  balloon  experiments,  and  asked  to  what  use  such 
could  lead,  Benjamin  Franklin  replied  with  the  question,  "Of  what 
use  is  a  new-born  babe?" 

In  the  treatment  of  disease,  and  in  the  destruction  of  bacteria, 
radium  has  not  yet  been  successfully  employed,  and  the  expecta- 
tions in  this  respect  aroused  by  early  announcements  of  its  prop- 
erties have  not  been  realized.  But  we  know  as  yet  little  of  what 
radium  can  do. 

The  demonstration  that  radium  emits  light  and  heat,  spon- 
taneously and  continuously,  and  without  diminution  of  substance 
as  far  as  we  can  determine,  has  led  to  the  hasty  and  unwarranted 
inference  that  we  are  here  confronted  with  an  actual  creation  of 
force  without  expenditure  of  substance.  The  indestructibility  of 
matter  and  force,  and  the  conservation  of  energy,  are  corner- 
stones of  the  edifice  of  modern  science;  and  these  have  not  been  dis- 
turbed by  this  new  discovery.  The  forces  with  which  we  are  most 
familiar, — light,  heat,  electricity,  for  example — are  mutually  con- 
vertible. They,  together  with  sound,  and  mechanical  energy,  are 
but  as  the  different  kinds  of  money — silver,  gold,  bank-notes — 
each  exchangeable  on  a  basis  of  mathematical  exactness  for  any 
other.  So,  too,  the  precise  amount  of  heat  represented  by  a  given 
expenditure  of  energy  of  other  kinds  can  be  calculated  and  pro- 
duced. It  is  well  known  that  there  are  substances  possessing  the 
power  of  absorbing  certain  kinds  of  energy,  and  returning  the 
same  in  the  form  absorbed,  or  as  some  other  manifestation  of  force. 
Thus,  barium  sulphide  and  other  bodies  become   highly  luminous 


698  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

when  exposed  to  sunlight,  and  give  off  the  light  when  removed  to 
a  dark  room.  Calcium  sulphide,  fluorite,  and  certain  dolomites  be- 
come luminous  when  heated — the  effect  of  heat  here  appearing  as 
light.  Numerous  substances,  when  electrified,  become  sources  of 
light.  Doubtless  there  are  forces  operating  around  us  the  charac- 
teristics of  which  we  have  -not  yet  learned;  and  these  unknown 
forces  may  be  convertible  into  the  commoner  manifestations  with 
which  we  are  familiar.  Is  it  not  reasonable  to  infer,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  definite  knowledge,  that  radium  possesses  the  property  of 
absorbing  energy  in  forms  known  or  unknown,  and  of  radiating  or 
emitting  such  as  light,  heat,  Becquerel  rays,  and  the  like?  The 
discovery  of  the  Roentgen  rays  made  certain  that'  hitherto  un- 
known forces,  or  hitherto  unrecognized  manifestations  of  energy, 
are  operating,  and  certain  bodies  may  be  responsive  to  such  forces, 
thus  producing  phenomena  inexplicable  to  us  because  of  our  ignor- 
ance of  the  nature  of  the  forces  themselves. 


HIS   MOTHER. 

{For  the  Improvement  Era.) 


Her  form  was  bent,  her  eyes  were  dim, 

But  beamed  with  lustrous  light  on  him. 

He  held  her  hand  within  his  own, 

Saying,  "For  thee  I've  worked  alone. 

My  mother." 

Her  boy, — no  longer  boy  but  man, — 
Although  like  boy's,  his  laugh  still  rang, 

Told  of  the  strife  to  carve  his  name 

Within  the  halls  of  living  fame, 
To  cheer  the  heart  of  her  he  loved — 
His  mother. 

How  he  had  longed  for  this  glad  day. 
When  he  could  go  to  her  and  say: 

"A  man's  success  is  ne'er  so  sweet. 

As  when  he  lays  it  at  the  feet 

Of  her  who's  been  his  guiding  star. 

His  mother!"  —Grace  Ingles  Frost. 

Salt  Lake  City. 


JOSEPH  SMITH  AS  SCIENTIST. 

BY   DR.   JOHN  A.  WIDTSOE,   DIRECTOR   OF  THE  AGRICULTURAL 
EXPERIMENT   STATION,   LOGAN,   UTAH. 


IX.— GEOLOGICAL    TIME. 

God  speaks  in  various  ways  to  men.  The  stars,  the  clouds, 
the  mountains,  the  grass  and  the  soil,  are  all,  to  him  who  reads 
aright,  forms  of  divine  revelation.  Many  of  the  noblest  attri- 
butes of  God  may  be  learned  by  a  study  of  the  laws  according  to 
which  Omnipotent  Will  directs  the  universe. 

Nowhere  is  this  principle  more  beautifully  illustrated  and 
confirmed  than  in  the  rocks  that  constitute  the  crust  of  the  earth, 
and  on  which  is  written  in  simple  plainness  the  history  of  the 
earth  almost  from  that  beginning,  when  the  Spirit  of  God  moved 
upon  the  face  of  the  waters.  For  centuries,  men  saw  the  rocks, 
their  forms  and  their  adaptation  to  each  other,  without  understand- 
ing the  message  written  in  them.  Only,  as  the  wonderful  nine- 
teenth century  approached,  did  the  vision  open,  and  the  interpreta- 
tion of  the  story  of  the  rocks  become  apparent. 

How  the  earth  first  came  into  being  has  not  yet  been  clearly 
revealed.  From  the  first,  however,  the  mighty  forces  which  act 
today,  have  shaped  and  fashioned  the  earth  and  prepared  it  for 
man's  habitation.  Water,  entering  the  tiny  cracks  of  the  rocks, 
and  expanding  as,  in  winter,  it  changed  to  ice,  crumbled  the 
mighty  mountains;  water,  falling  as  rain  from  the  clouds,  washed 
the  rock  fragments  into  the  low-lying  places  to  form  soil;  the 
water  in  mighty  rivers  chiseled  the  earth  with  irresistible  force,  as 
shown  by  the  Grand  Canyon  of  the  Colorado.  The  internal  heat 
of  the  earth,  aided  by  the  translocation  of  material  by  water, 
produced  large  cracks  in  the  earth's  crust,  through  which 
oceans  of  molten  matter  flowed  and  spread  themselves  over  the 
land;  the  same  heat  appeared  in  volcanoes,  through  which  were 


700  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

spurted  liquid  earth,  cinders  and  foul  gases;  as  the  earth  heat  was 
lost,  the  crust  cooled,  contracted  and  great  folds  appeared,  rec- 
ognized as  mountains,  and  as  time  went  on,  many  of  the  moun- 
tains were  caused  to  sink  and  the  ocean  beds  were  brought  up  in 
their  stead.  Wonderful  and  mighty  have  been  the  changes  on  the 
earth's  surface  since  the  Lord  began  its  preparation  for  a  race  of  men. 

In  the  beginning,  it  appears  that  water  covered  the  whole 
earth.  In  that  day,  the  living  creatures  of  earth  dwelt  in  the 
water,  and  it  was  the  great  age  of  fishes  and  other  aquatic  ani- 
mals. Soon  the  first  land  lifted  itself  timidly  above  the  surface 
of  the  ocean,  and  formed  inviting  places  for  land  animals  and 
plants.  Upon  the  land  came,  first,  according  to  the  story  of  the 
rocks,  a  class  of  animals  known  as  amphibians,  like  frogs,  that 
could  live  both  in  water  and  on  land;  and  associated  with  them 
were  vast  forests  of  low  orders  of  plants,  that  cleared  the  atmos- 
phere of  noxious  gases,  and  made  it  fit  for  higher  forms  of  life. 
Then  followed  an  age  in  which  the  predominating  animals  were 
gigantic  reptiles,  a  step  higher  than  the  amphibians,  but  a  step 
lower  than  the  class  of  mammals  to  which  man  belongs.  During 
the  age  of  these  prehistoric  monsters,  the  earth  was  yet  more  fully 
prepared  for  higher  life.  Following  the  age  of  reptiles,  came  the  age 
of  mammals,  which  still  persists,  though,  since  the  coming  of  man 
upon  the  earth,  the  geological  age  has  been  known  as  the  age  of  man. 

This  rapid  sketch  of  the  geological  history  of  the  earth  does 
very  poor  justice  to  one  of  the  most  complete,  wonderful  and 
beautiful  stories  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  man.  The  purpose 
of  this  paper  is  not,  however,  to  discuss  the  past  ages  of  the  earth. 

It  is,  of  course,  readily  understood  that  such  mighty  changes 
as  those  just  described,  and  the  succession  of  different  kinds  of 
organic  life,  could  not  have  taken  place  in  a  few  years.  Vast 
periods  of  time  must  of  necessity  have  been  required  for  the 
initiation,  rise,  domination  and  final  extinction  of  each  class  of 
animals.  A  year  is  too  small  a  unit  of  measurement  in  geologi- 
cal time;  a  thousand  years  or,  better,  a  million  years,  would  more 
nearly  answer  the  requirements. 

It  is  possible  in  various  ways  to  arrive  at  a  conception  of  the 
age  of  the  earth  since  organic  life  came  upon  it.  For  instance, 
:the  gorge  of  the  Niagara  Falls  was  begun  in  comparatively  recent 


JOSEPH  SMITH  AS  SCIENTIST.  701 

days,  yet,  judging  by  the  rate  at  which  the  falls  are  now  receding, 
it  must  have  been  at  least  31,000  years  since  the  making  of  the 
gorge  was  first  begun,  and  it  may  have  been  nearly  400,000  years.* 
Lord  Kelvin,  on  almost  purely  physical  grounds,  has  estimated  that 
the  earth  cannot  be  more  than  100,000,000  years  old,  but  that  it 
may  be  near  that  age.f  It  need  not  be  said,  probably,  that  all 
such  calculations  are  very  uncertain  when  the  actual  number  of 
years  are  considered;  but,  all  human  knowledge,  based  upon  the 
present  appearance  of  the  earth  and  the  laws  that  control  known 
phenomena,  agree  in  indicating  that  the  age  of  the  earth  is  ex- 
treme, running  in  all  probability  into  millions  of  years,  and  it 
must  have  been  hundreds  of  thousands  of  years  since  the  first  life 
was  placed  upon  earth. 

When  these  immense  periods  of  time  were  first  suggested  by 
students  of  science,  a  great  shout  of  opposition  arose  from  the 
camp  of  the  theologians.  The  Bible  story  of  creation  had  been 
taken  literally,  that  in  six  days  did  the  Lord  create  the  heavens 
and  the  earth;  and  it  was  held  to  be  blasphemy  to  believe  anything 
else.  The  new  revelation,  given  by  God  in  the  message  of  the 
rocks,  was  received  as  a  man-made  theory,  that  must  be  crushed 
to  earth.  It  must  be  confessed  that  many  of  the  men  of  science, 
exulting  in  the  new  light,  ridiculed  the  story  told  by  Moses,  and 
claimed  that  it  was  an  evidence  that  the  writings  of  Moses  were 
not  inspired,  but  merely  man-made  fables. 

The  war  between  the  Mosaic  and  the  geological  record  of  crea- 
tion became  very  bitter  and  lasted  long,  and  it  led  to  a  merciless 
dissection  and  scrutiny  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  and  the  evi- 
dences upon  which  rests  the  geological  theory  of  the  age  of  the 
earth.  However,  when  the  din  of  the  battle  grew  faint,  and  the 
smoke  cleared  away,  it  was  quickly  perceived  by  the  unbiased  on- 
lookers, that  the  Bible  and  science  had  both  gained  bj  the  conflict. 
Geology  had  firmly  established  its  claim,  that  the  earth  was  not 
made  in  six  days  of  twenty-four  hours  each;  and  the  first  chapter 
of  Genesis  had  been  shown  to  be  a  marvelously  truthful  record  of 
the  great  events  of  creation. 


*  Dana's  New  Text  Book  of  Geology,  t^.  375. 
t  Lectures  and  Addresses,  vol.  2,  p.  10. 


702  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

Moses,  in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  enumerates  the  order 
of  the  events  of  creation.  First,  light  was  brought  to  the  earth 
and  was  divided  from  darkness,  ''and  the  evening  and  the  morning 
were  the  first  day."  Then  the  firmament  was  established  in  the 
midst  of  the  waters,  "and  the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the 
second  day."  After  each  group  of  creative  events,  the  same  ex- 
pression occurs,  "and  the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the  third 
[fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth]  days."  Those  who  insisted  upon  the  literal 
interpretation  of  the  language  of  the  Bible  maintained  that  the 
word  day,  as  used  in  Genesis  1,  referred  to  a  day  of  twenty-four 
hours,  and  that  all  the  events  of  creation  were  consummated  by  an 
all-powerful  God  in  one  hundred  and  forty- four  earthly  hours.  An 
examination  of  the  original  Hebrew  for  the  use  of  the  word  trans- 
lated "day"  in  Genesis,  revealed  that  it  refers  more  frequently  to 
periods  of  time  of  indefinite  duration.*  When  this  became  clear, 
and  the  record  of  the  rocks  became  better  known,  some  theolo- 
gians suggested,  that  as  we  are  told  that  a  thousand  years  are  as 
one  day  to  God,  the  day  of  Genesis  1  refers  to  periods  of  a  thou- 
sand years  each.  This  did  not  strengthen  the  argument.  The 
best  opinion  of  today,  and  it  is  well-nigh  universal,  is  that  the 
Mosaic  record  refers  to  indefinite  periods  of  time  corresponding  to 
the  great  divisions  of  historical  geology. 

Even  as  late  as  the  sixties  and  seventies  of  the  last  century 
this  question  was  still  so  unsettled  as  to  warrant  the  publication 
of  books  defending  the  Mosaic  account  of  creation.t 

In  1830,  certain  visions  given  to  the  Jewish  lawgiver  Moses, 
were  revealed  to  the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith.  These  visions  are 
now  incorporated  with  other  matter  in  the  Pearl  of  Great  Price, 
under  the  title.  The  Book  of  Moses.  In  chapter  two  of  this  book 
is  found  an  account  of  the  creation,  which  is  nearly  identical  with 
the  account  found  in  Genesis  1.  The  slight  variations  which  occur 
tend  only  to  make  the  meaning  of  the  writer  clearer.  In  this 
account,  the  expression  "and  the  evening  and  the  morning  were 
the  first  [etc.]  day,"  occurs  just  as  it  does  in  the  Mosaic  account  in 


*  Compare  The  Mosaic  Record  of  Creation,  A.  McCaul,  D.  D.,  p.  213. 
t  For  instance  Aids  to  Faith,  containing  McCaul's  most  able  discus- 
sion.    The  Origin  of  the  World,  J.  W.  Dawson. 


JOSEPH  SMITH  AS  SCIENTIST.  703 

the  Bible.  In  1835  certain  ancient  records  found  in  the  catacombs 
of  Egypt  fell  into  the  hands  of  Joseph  Smith,  who  found  them  to 
be  some  of  the  writings  of  Abraham,  while  he  was  in  Egypt.  The 
translation  of  these  records  is  also  found  in  the  Pearl  of  Great 
Price,  under  the  title,  The  Book  of  Abraham.  In  the  fourth  and 
fifth  chapters  of  the  book  is  found  an  account  of  the  creation  ac- 
cording to  the  knowledge  of  Abraham.  The  two  accounts  are 
essentially  the  same,  but  the  Abrahamic  version  is  so  much  fuller 
and  clearer  that  it  illumines  the  obscurer  parts  of  the  Mosaic  ac- 
count. We  shall  concern  ourselves  here  only  with  the  variation 
in  the  use  of  the  word  "day." 

In  Genesis  1 :  5  we  read,  "And  God  called  the  light  Day,  and 
the  darkness  he  called  Night.  And  the  evening  and  the  morning 
were  the  first  day." 

The  corresponding  period  is  discussed  in  the  Book  of  Abra- 
ham 4:  5  as  follows:  ''And  the  Gods  called  the  light  Day,  and  the 
darkness  they  called  Night.  And  it  came  to  pass  that  from  the 
evening  until  morning  they  called  night;  and  from  the  morning 
until  the  evening  they  called  day;  and  this  was  the  first,  or  the  begin- 
ning, of  that  which  they  called  day  and  night." 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  in  Abraham's  version  names  were  given 
to  the  intervals  between  evening  and  morning,  and  morning  and 
evening;  but  absolutely  nothing  is  said  about  a  first  day:  the  state- 
ment is  simply  made,  that  this  was  the  beginning  of  the  alternating 
periods  of  light  and  darkness  which  they,  the  Gods,  had  named  night 
and  day.  According  to  this  version,  the  first  creative  period  occu- 
pied an  unknown  period  of  time. 

In  Genesis  1:  8  it  further  says :  "And  God  called  the  firmament 
Heaven,     And  the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the  second  day." 

The  corresponding  passage  in  the  Book  of  Abraham  4:  8, 
reads,  "And  the  Gods  called  the  expanse  Heaven.  And  it  came  to 
pass  that  it  was  from  evening  until  morning  that  they  called  night; 
and  it  came  to  pass  that  it  was  from  morning  until  evening  that 
they  called  day,  and  this  was  the  second  time  that  they  called  night 
and  day." 

Here  it  must  be  noted  that  nothing  is  said  about  a  second 
day.  It  is  said  that  it  was  the  second  time  that  they  called  day — 
which  leaves  the  second  creative  period  entirely  indefinite  so  far  as 
time  limits  are  concerned. 


704  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

In  Genesis  1 :  13,  it  reads,  "and  the  evening  and  the  morning 
were  the  third  day." 

In  Abraham  4:  13,  the  corresponding  passage  reads,  "And  it 
came  to  pass  that  they  numbered  the  days;  from  the  evening  until 
the  morning  they  called  night;  and  it  came  to  pass,  from  the 
morning  until  the  evening  they  called  day;  and  it  was  the  third  time." 

Here  it  is  explicitly  stated  that  the  Gods  numbered  the  days,evi- 
dently,they  counted  the  days  that  had  passed  during  the  third  creative 
period,  and  it  was  the  third  time  that  the  numbering  had  been  done. 
Again,  the  third  creative  period  is  left  indefinite,  as  to  time  limits. 

Gen.  1 :  19,  reads,  "And  the  evening  and  the  morning  were 
the  fourth  day." 

Correspondingly,  in  Abraham  4:  19,  is  found,  "And  it  came 
to  pass  that  it  was  from  evening  until  morning  that  it  was  night; 
and  it  came  to  pass  that  it  was  from  morning  until  evening  that  it 
was  day;  and  it  wa,s  the  fourth  time." 

This  quotation  from  Abraham,  standing  alone,  would  be  some- 
what ambiguous,  for  it  might  indicate  that  it  was  the  fourth  time 
that  the  periods  between  evening  and  morning,  and  morning  and 
evening  were  called  night  and  day.  In  the  light  of  previous  pas- 
sages, however,  the  meaning  of  the  passage  becomes  clear.  Certainly 
there  is  nothing  in  the  verse  to  confine  the  fourth  creative  period 
within  certain  time  limits. 

The  fifth  day  in  Genesis  closes  as  does  the  fourth;  and  the 
fifth  time  in  Abraham  closes  as  does  the  fourth.  The  remarks 
made  concerning  the  fourth  creative  period  apply  to  the  fifth. 

Concerning  the  sixth  creative  period.  Gen.  1:  31,  says,  "And 
God  saw  everything  that  he  had  made,  and,  behold,  it  was  very 
good.     And  the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the  sixth  day." 

Of  the  same  period,  Abraham  says,  "And  the  Gods  said:  We 
will  do  everything  that  we  have  said,  and  organize  them;  and  be- 
hold, they  shall  be  very  obedient.  And  it  came  to  pass  that  it 
was  from  morning  until  evening  that  they  called  night;  and  it 
came  to  pass  that  it  was  from  evening  until  morning  that  they 
called  day;  and  they  numbered  the  sixth  time." 

As  in  the  previous  periods,  the  sixth  ended  by  the  Gods  num- 
bering the  days  of  the  creative  period;  the  sixth  period,  like  those 
preceding,  being  undeterminate  as  to  time. 


JOSEPH  SMITH  AS  SCIENTIST.  705 

Repeated  reading  and  study  of  the  Abrahamic  account,  as  re- 
vealed through  Joseph  Smith,  make  it  certain  beyond  doubt  that 
the  intent  is  to  convey  the  idea  that  the  creative  periods  included 
much  time,  and  that,  at  the  end  of  each  period,  the  measure  of 
night  and  day,  was  applied  to  the  period,  in  order  that  its  length 
might  be  determined.  Whether  or  not  the  different  creative  periods 
represented  days  to  the  mighty  beings  concerned  in  the  creation,  we 
do  not  know,  and  it  matters  little  to  the  argument  of  this  article.* 

Now,  then,  we  must  remember  that  Joseph  Smith  made  this 
translation  long  before  the  theologians  of  the  world  had  consented 
to  admit  that  the  Mosaic  days  meant  long  periods  of  time;  and  long 
before  geology  had  established  beyond  question  that  immense  time 
periods  had  been  consumed  in  the  preparation  of  the  earth  for  man. 

Joseph  Smith,  the  humble,  unlearned,  despised  boy,  unfamiliar 
with  books  and  the  theories  of  men,  stated  with  clear  and  simple 
certainty,  if  his  works  be  read  with  the  eye  of  candid  truth,  this 
fundamental  truth  of  geological  science  and  the  Bible,  long  before 
the  learned  of  the  world  had  agreed  upon  the  same  truth.t 

Standing  alone,  this  fact  might  be  called  a  chance  coincidence, 
a  result  of  blind  fate.  But  recalling  that  it  is  one  of  many  similar 
and  even  more  striking  facts,  what  shall  be  said?  Has  ever  im- 
postor dared  what  Joseph  Smith  did?  Has  ever  false  prophet 
lived  beyond  his  generation,  if  his  prophecies  were  examined? 
Shall  we  of  this  foremost  age  accept  convincing,  logical  truth, 
though  it  run  counter  to  our  preconceived  notions?  Glorious 
were  the  visions  of  Joseph  the  Prophet;  unspeakable  would  be  our 
joy,  should  they  be  given  to  us. 

(to  be  continued.) 


*  The  writer  understands  the  creation,  reported  in  Abraham,  4th 
chapter,  to  be  spiritual  in  its  nature;  but  he  also  believes  that  this 
spiritual  account  is  a  perfect  picture  of  the  actual  material  creation. 
If  chapter  4  of  Abraham  represents  the  Gods  planning  creation,  the 
measuring  of  time  becomes  easily  understood.  It  then  means,  "How 
long  will  it  take  to  accomplish  the  work?"  All  this,  however,  has  no 
bearing  upon  the  present  argument. 

t  It  may  be  remarked  that  other  geological  doctrines  were  taught 
by  the  Prophet,  that  science  has  since  confirmed.  One  of  these  was  dis- 
cussed by  Dr.  J.  E.  Talmage  in  the  Improvement  Era,  Vol.  7,  p.  481. 


SOME   LEADING    EVENTS    IN    THE  CURRENT 
STORY  OF  THE  WORLD. 

BY   DR.   J.  M.  TANNER,   SUPERINTENDENT   OF   CHURCH  SCHOOLS. 


Progress  of  the  War. 

As  soon  as  Japan  secured  the  undisputed  control  of  the  sea, 
she  was  in  a  position  to  commence  her  movements  on  land.  The 
initial  point  in  the  land  campaign  was  the  Yalu  River.  This  river 
separates  Manchuria  from  Korea.  The  latter  country  the  Russians 
were  in  no  position  to  hold.  The  fighting  there  amounted  to  light 
skirmishes  by  which  the  Russians  merely  hoped  to  retard  Japanese 
movements  to  the  north.  It  was  believed  that  the  Russians  would 
have  ample  time  to  concentrate  their  forces  on  the  northern  banks 
of  the  Yalu  and  so  entrench  themselves  on  the  hills  as  to  offer  a 
most  stubborn  resistance. 

The  battle  of  the  Yalu  which  occurred  on  May  1st  was  the  ini- 
tial land  contest.  Every  preparation  for  crossing  the  Yalu  had 
been  carefully  made.  The  artillery  at  Wiju  covered  the  movements 
of  the  troops  over  the  river  and  the  Japanese  soldiers  at  once  be- 
gan to  storm  the  position  of  the  Russians  in  their  hillside  fortifica- 
tions. The  Japanese  were  first  obliged  to  cross  the  Ai  Ho,  a  trib- 
utary of  the  Yalu,  with  a  division  of  the  army,  but  the  smaller 
stream  offered  no  serious  impediment  for  their  soldiers  fought  while 
they  were  in  water  to  their  waists.  Everywhere  Japanese  arms 
were  victorious.  It  was  immediately  manifest  that  they  had  better 
artillery  and  were  more  skillful  in  its  use.  Even  the  Japanese  cav- 
alry showed  up  to  good  advantage.  The  Russians  were  compelled 
to^retreat  and  move  their  position  as  far  back  as  Feng  Wang 
Chang. 


CURRENT  STORY  OF  THE  WORLD.  707 

The  Japanese  strengthened  their  outposts  in  order  to  hold  the 
position  which  they  had  gained;  and  General  Kuroki,  who  had  cov- 
ered himself  with  honors,  began  the  adjustment  of  his  troops  for 
further  contingencies,  while  General  Oku  farther  to  the  south-west 
began  to  close  in  upon  Port  Arthur. 

Just  what  position  Kuroki  will  be  found  to  have  taken  is  un- 
certain. There  has  been  much  speculation  as  to  his  plans  to  sur- 
round Kuropatkin.  It  is  more  likely  that  he  simply  stands  a  men- 
ace to  any  movement  of  the  Russian  army  to  the  south  for  the 
relief  of  Port  Arthur.  It  is.  curious  to  note  the  diversity  of  im- 
portance attached  to  the  battle  of  the  Yalu.  Some  English  jour- 
nals, pro  Japanese,  class  it  among  the  decisive  battles  of  the  world. 
French  papers,  pro-Russian,  refer  to  it  as  a  part  of  a  number  of 
frontier  skirmishes. 

The  Battle  of  Nan  Shan  Hill. 

The  most  brilliant  military  achievement  of  the  present  war  is 
the  capture  of  Nan  Shan  hill  May  26th.  Port  Arthur  lies  at  the 
extreme  southern  point  of  the  Liao-tung  peninsula.  About  thirty 
miles  north  of  Port  Arthur  the  peninsula  narrows  to  a  distance  of 
about  two  miles  by  the  indentations  of  the  Talienwan  on  the  east 
and  the  Kin  Chau  bay  on  the  west.  The  defense  of  this  narrow 
neck  was  considered  of  vital  importance.  At  Kinchau  there  is  a 
strong  fort  and  near  by  is  Nan  Shan  hill  which  was  considered  im- 
pregnable. It  may  indeed  be  considered  a  mountain  since  it  is 
something  like  two  thousand  feet  high.  Breed's  hill  or  Bunker 
hill  would  be  a  mere  ant  hill  in  comparison.  The  hill  near  the  top 
is  very  steep.  On  its  crest  the  Russians  had  lodged  a  large  number 
of  heavy  cannon  and  quick  firing  machines.  For  days  the  Japanese, 
reconnoitered  the  hill  and  drew  from  the  enemy  the  fire  of  the 
cannons  whose  balls  were  examined  carefully  to  determine  the 
character  of  the  field  pieces  which  must  be  met  in  an  effort  to  take 
the  hill  by  storm.  The  Russian  force  charged  with  the  defense  of 
the  hill  is  said  to  have  numbered  between  twelve  thousand  and 
twenty  thousand  men. 

On  the  morning  of  May  26th  at  9  o'clock  the  charge  of  the 
hill  began  amidst  deafening  cannonading  and  fearful  carnage.  The 
guns  of  the  fort  mowed  down  whole  companies  of  the  Japanese 


708  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

who  seemed  to  be  simply  infuriated  by  the  awful  spectacle  of 
death  about  them.  The  soldiers  kept  on  charging  up  the  hill, 
climbing  over  the  rows  of  dead  bodies  of  their  comrades  until  late 
in  the  afternoon  they  penetrated  the  outer  ranks  of  the  Russians. 
The  first  Japanese  soldiers  to  lead  the  bayonet  charge  were  quickly 
followed  by  others  until  the  Russians,  finding  the  attack  irresist- 
ible, fled  to  the  south  in  the  direction  of  Port  Arthur. 

The  capture  of  Nan  Shan  hill  cost  the  Japanese  thirty-five 
thousand  men  in  killed  and  wounded.  It  is  reported  that  the  Rus- 
sians lost  something  like  eight  hundred  men.  As  the  Russians  were 
pursued  for  some  distance  in  their  retreat,  no  accurate  account  of 
their  loss  can  be  learned  at  present.  Against  such  undaunted  men 
as  stormed  Nan  Shan  hill,  what  defensive  methods  of  modern  war- 
fare can  prove  effectual!  The  whole  world  was  astounded.  It  is  to 
be  doubted  whether  in  all  the  history  of  war  such  determined  and 
unflinching  resistance  to  overwhelming  odds  was  ever  surpassed. 

With  equal  precision  and  courage,  the  Japanese  army  at  once 
began  to  move  in  upon  Port  Arthur  and  fasten  its  death  grip  upon 
the  fortifications  which  it  was  believed  could  only  be  taken  by  pro- 
cess of  starvation.  The  fleet  has  brought  over  the  great  siege 
guns,  and  the  world  will  be  given  another  evidence  of  Japanese 
military  prowess  and  strategy.  No  doubt  the  Japs  will  be  provided 
with  mortars,  or  high  angle  firing  guns,  such  as  we  have  for  de- 
fense on  our  sea  coasts.  These  twelve  inch  guns  throw  projectiles 
of  a  thousand  pounds  a  distance  of  five  miles.  What  makes  them 
so  effective  in  besieging  a  fortress  is  that  the  projectiles  may  be 
thrown  a  distance  of  two  miles  into  the  air;  when  they  fall  and 
explode,  their  destruction  is  equalled  only  by  a  torpedo.  These  ex- 
plosives may  be  dropped  with  great  accuracy;  and  we  are  informed 
that  the  Japanese  have  supplied  themselves  with  balloons  so  as  to 
locate  the  points  upon  which  attacks  can  be  most  advantageously 
mad^.  The  period  of  one  year  which  it  was  predicted  would  be 
necessary  to  carry  Port  Arthur  may,  in  the  light  of  recent  prog- 
ress, be  shortened  to  one  month. 

Senator  Quay. 

The  old  Roman  adage,that  "of  the  dead  say  nothing  but  good," 
is  not  observed  in  the  case  of  Pennsylvania's  senator  who  recently 


CURRENT  STORY  OF  THE  WORLD.  709 

died.  After  a  political  leadership  in  that  state  covering  a  period 
of  some  thirty  years,  it  is  remarkable  what  a  variety  of  opinions 
prevail  concerning  Senator  Quay's  political  career.  That  he  was  a 
man  of  most  extraordinary  resources,  no  one  doubts,  and  it  does 
not  seem  possible  that  he  could  control  the  political  affairs  of  a 
state  so  completely  by  methods  that  were  wholly  and  always  un- 
scrupulous or  vicious.  That  he  has  resorted  to  tactics  in  political 
life  that  were  questionable  is  asserted  by  his  enemies.  It  will  be, 
perhaps,  impossible  on  this  side  of  eternity  to  determine  just  what 
Senator  Quay's  rights  are  to  the  honorable  consideration  of  the 
American  people.  Over  his  virtues  and  his  vices,  politicians  will 
continue  to  the  end  to  contend. 

It  is  quite  generally  conceded  that  as  a  soldier  in  the  Civil 
War  he  was  brave  and  patriotic.  He  was  possessed  of  fine  literary 
tastes  and  had  uncommon  mental  powers.  To  his  friends,  it  is  said, 
he  was  always  loyal  and  that  his  word  was  as  good  as  his  bond. 
In  political  life  he  possessed  the  virtue  of  remembering  and  re- 
warding every  service  rendered  him.  When  the  great  opposition 
he  had  to  contend  with  at  different  periods  of  his  political  career 
is  taken  into  consideration,  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  his  mas- 
tery over  the  minds  of  men  was  something  of  the  Napoleonic  type. 
He  does  not  appear  to  have  been  of  magnetic  personality,  but 
rather  secretive  and  taciturn.  For  sixty  years  Cameron  and  Quay 
have  managed  in  a  masterly  manner  the  political  life  of  the  great 
state  of  Pennsylvania.  Such  a  period  covers  almost  half  the  his- 
tory of  our  national  existence. 

Perdicaris  Kidnapped. 

On  the  evening  of  the  18th  of  May,  a  Moorish  brigand  with  his 
followers  entered  the  house  of  Ian  Perdicaris,an  American  citizen  at 
Tangier,  Morocco,  and  carried  him  off  to  await  the  ransom  of  their 
prisoner  by  this  country.  The  demand  for  a  large  ransom  was  an- 
swered by  our  Secretary  of  State  by  the  dispach  of  three  gun  boats 
and  cruiser  to  Tangier.  Mr.  Perdicaris  was  a  New  Jersey  million- 
aire who  had  gone  to  Morocco  to  enjoy  the  oriental  life  which 
seems  to  have  a  certain  fascination  for  Franks  (western  people) 
who  have  lived  a  considerable  time  in  oriental  countries. 

Mr.  Perdicaris  was  born  at  Athens,  in  1840,  at  the  American 


710  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

Consulate  while  his  father  was  Consul  General  to  that  country.  He 
evidently  inherited  some  of  his  preferences  for  life  about  the  Med- 
iterranean. At  Tangier  he  had  built  a  beautiful  palace  and  did  much 
to  improve,  it  is  said,  the  sanitary  condition  of  the  city.  An  Eng- 
lishman, Mr.  Varley,  a  step-son  was  also  taken  at  the  time  of  the 
capture  of  Perdicaris. 

By  a  recent  treaty  between  England  and  France,  England 
agreed  to  recognize  the  paramount  influence  of  France  in  Morocco. 
This,  no  doubt,  means  that  France  will  soon  take  a  hand  in  the 
internal  administration  of  the  country  just  as  England  is  doing 
in  Egypt.  In  recognition  of  this  treaty,  our  government  appealed 
to  France  for  her  good  offices  in  securing  the  release  of  Perdicaris. 
This  pleased  France,  because  it  was  an  early  recognition  of  her 
claims  to  guardianship  in  Morocco.  However,  France  took  some 
exception  to  the  appearance  of  our  fleet  in  Moroccan  waters.  Our 
government  was  frank  to  say  to  France  that  if  the  latter  would 
guarantee  the  restoration  of  Perdicaris,  the  fleet  would  at  once  be 
withdrawn. 

Rasouli  had  often  been  the  guest  of  Perdicaris  and  was  a, 
leader  among  the  Berbers  that  constitute  a  class  of  lawless  sub- 
jects of  the  Sultan.  Perhaps  no  more  than  one  f  outh  of  the  coun- 
try is  under  responsible  government,  and  brigands  have  things  very 
much  their  own  way  in  the  greater  portion  of  Morocco. 

A  New  Canadian  Transcontinental  Railway. 

A  bill  which  recently  passed  the  Dominion  Parliament  practi- 
cally assured  Canada  a  transcontinental  line  of  railway  extending- 
from  Moncton,  in  New  Brunswick,  to  the  Pacific  Coast.  The  cost  of 
the  road  is  estimated  at  from  $165,000,000  to  $185,000,000.  Un- 
der the  terms  of  the  bill,  the  Canadian  government  assumes  a  lia- 
bility for  the  greater  portion  of  the  road.  Some  question  has  arisen 
as  to  the  value  of  the  road  in  the  eastern  division,  that  is,  from 
the  Atlantic  to  Winnipeg,  a  distance  of  1875  miles.  With  the 
exception  of  a  few  points  which  this  eastern  division  will  touch, 
the  entire  road  will  be  practically  through  a  wilderness  which 
awaits  development  by  settlers.  This  eastern  portion  is  largely 
covered  by  forests  and  it  is  hardly  likely  that  settlers  will  care  tO' 


CURRENT  STORY  OF  THE  WORLD.  711 

clear  away  trees  when  so  much  land  can  be  had  in  the  prairies  of 
Manitoba  and  the  north-west. 

There  is  no  doubt,  however,  about  the  value  of  the  road  after 
it  leaves  Winnipeg  on  its  way  to  the  northwest,  whose  immense 
grain  fields  are  increasing  yearly  with  great  rapidity.  The  present 
transcontinental  line,  the  Canadian  Pacific,  is  wholly  unable  to  move 
the  great  crops  of  grain  that  are  yearly  taken  from  the  West. 
This  line  will  undoubtedly  have  special  value  to  the  settlers  in  Al- 
berta. From  present  indications  it  will  run  north  of  the  Canadian. 
Pacific  railroad,  but  it  will  undoubtedly  contain  spur  lines  extend- 
ing down  to  our  colonies  and  greatly  enhance  the  value  of  our  pro- 
ducts in  that  section.     Canada  is  really  a  new  El  Dorado. 

Postal  War  on  Patent  Medicines.  ^ 

For  some  time  our  government  chemists  have  been  analyzing 
patent  medicines  and  other  nostroms  that  have  found  so  general  a 
use  throughout  the  country.  These  medicines  are  purported  to 
cure  any  and  all  diseases.  In  recent  years  their  advertisements 
have  amounted  in  themselves  to  so  many  millions  of  dollars  that  it 
was  evident  that  the  sales  of  these  medicines  must  have  been 
something  extraordinary.  Many  of  these  were  analyzed  and  found 
to  contain  substances  that  had  no  healing  properties  for  the  dis  ■ 
eases  it  was  claimed  they  would  cure.  Many  of  them  contained 
a  large  percentage  of  alcohol,  which  had  an  exhilarating  effect 
upon  the  patients  who  mistook  a  temporary  state  of  partial  in- 
toxication for  a  cure. 

The  postoffice  department  has  issued  an  order  prohibiting  the 
transportation  of  certain  medicines  through  the  mail,  medicines 
that  have  been  passed  upon  by  government  experts.  The  prohibi- 
tion of  the  use  of  the  mail  also  extends  to  papers  that  advertise 
these  fraudulent  medicines. 

The  Boston  Transcript,  commenting  on  the  subject,  has  this  to 
say:  "Now,  with  the  necessary  amount  of  faith,  a  patent  medicine 
may  accomplish  a  cure  in  one  case  where  it  will  not  in  another. 
To  exclude  it,  the  postoffice  department  must  determine  that  it 
will  not,  even  with  the  required  admixture  of  faith,  effect  a  cure; 
and  we  do  not  believe  that  it  is  within  the  province  of  the  post- 


712  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

office  department  to  decide  which  medicines  are  of  value  in  par- 
ticular cases  and  which  are  worthless." 

The  postoffice  department  might  refer  this  matter  to  Congress^ 
-especially  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  State,  which  has  recently 
had  unusual  opportunities  for  determining  what  is  genuine  in  re- 
ligion and  what  is  not.  The  Senate  might  give  a  full  hearing  on 
the  question  of  patent  medicines  and  decide  where  even  an  admix- 
ture of  faith  would  not  be  effectual. 
Colorado's  Troubles. 

On  the  night  of  June  6th,  when  a  squad  of  non-union  miners  at 
Independence,  Colorado,  were  about  to  take  the  train  for  their 
homes  at  the  close  of  their  shifts  in  the  mine,  a  dynamite  bomb 
was  exploded  under  the  station  platform  and  sent  thirteen  instant- 
ly into  eternity.  Next  day  two  died  from  the  effects  of  injury.  At 
Victor,  on  the  7th,  while  a  meeting  was  being  held  by  non-union  men 
and  mine  owners,  a  disturbance  arose  and  two  more  non-union  men 
were  killed.  This  lawlessness  was  attributed  to  neglect  on  the  part 
of  the  peace  officers  elected  by  the  unionists. 

It  was  believed  that  the  sheriff  connived  at  the  outrages  per- 
petrated by  union  men.  A  mob  of  non-union  men  and  mine  owners 
thereupon  called  at  the  sheriff's  office  and  demanded  his  resigna- 
tion. Upon  his  refusal,  a  coil  of  rope  was  thrown  at  his  feet.  The 
threat  was  sufficient  to  bring  his  resignation,  and  a  mine  owner 
was  appointed  sheriff.  Wholesale  arrests  then  began.  Union 
stores  were  looted  and  their  goods  thrown  into  the  streets,  though 
the  officers  put  a  stop  to  such  vandalism  and  at  once  took  steps  to 
protect  the  stores.  Bodies  of  unionists  were  escorted  to  the  Col- 
orado line  and  ordered  to  keep  out  of  the  state. 

Governor  Peabody,  who  was  at  the  St.  Louis  f air,hurried  home 
to  assume  charge  of  affairs  in  his  distracted  state,  which  for  the 
past  two  years  has  been  the  scene  of  one  of  the  greatest  labor  un- 
ion straggles  witnessed  in  this  country,  or  anywhere  else,  for  that 
matter.  The  Cripple  Creek  district  has  been  the  scene  of  terror, 
and  outrages  on  human  life  have  been  there  altogether  too  com- 
mon. 

Non-union  men  have  showed  a  determined  effort  to  work  and 
many  of  them  have  been  shot  down  as  they  were  returning  to  or 


CURRENT  STORY  OF  THE  WORLD.  713 

from  their  work  by  men  in  ambush.  The  militia  has  been  in  con- 
stant demand  and  the  state  at  times  in  certain  districts  has  been 
in  a  condition  bordering  on  anarchy. 

The  struggle  on  the  part  of  organized  labor  and  its  contest 
with  capital  may  lead  to  a  panic  of  the  most  distressing  character. 
Capital  is  naturally  timid;  and  if  it  should  retire  from  its  regular 
channels  of  commerce  and  manufacturing,  it  is  easy  to  compre- 
hend the  appalling  distress  and  starvation  that  would  follow.  The 
temper  of  the  struggle  is  the  most  alarming,  and  the  more  so  be- 
cause it  grows  rapidly  in  its  intensity.  A  very  large  proportion 
of  working  men  are  non-unionists  and  they  are  apparently  as  bit- 
ter as  their  opponents. 

No  thoughtful  man  can  contemplate  the  labor  trouble  of  our 
country  without  the  gravest  apprehensions  over  the  outcome.  If 
the  struggle  becomes  desperate,  it  vrill  cost  millions  of  property 
and  rivers  of  blood.  The  horror  of  it  all  is  that  when  once  it  has 
passed  certain  limits,  it  will  be  beyond  the  control  of  either  side, 
or  of  both  sides.  Like  an  avalanche,  it  will  gather  irresistible 
force  as  it  goes.  The  principle  of  federation  is  like  a  drag  net. 
It  will  draw  in  the  discontented  and  the  contented  alike.  The 
organizations  of  labor  are  so  complete  and  so  well  equipped  for 
immediate  action  that  a  civil  conflict  may  come  like  an  avalanche 
without  a  moment's  warning  when  all  men  think  themselves  secure. 


EDITOR'S    TABLE. 


REST  FOR  THE  PEACEABLE  FOLLOWERS  OF  CHRIST. 

I  desire  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Latter-day  Saints  to  the 
words  of  the  Prophet  Moroni,  who  says,  in  speaking  of  his  father's 
instructions  to  the  ancient  saints  upon  this  continent  : 

Wherefore  I  would  speak  unto  you  that  are  of  the  Church,  that  are 
the  peaceable  followers  of  Christ,  and  that  have  obtained  a  sufficient 
hope,  by  which  ye  can  enter  into  the  rest  of  the  Lord,  from  this  time 
henceforth,  until  ye  shall  rest  with  him  in  heaven. 

This  is  a  very  significant  passage.  The  rest  here  referred  to 
is  not  physical  rest,  for  there  is  no  such  thing  as  physical  rest  in 
the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ.  Reference  is  made  to  the  spiritual 
rest  and  peace  which  are  born  from  a  settled  conviction  of  the 
truth  in  the  minds  of  men.  We  may  thus  enter  into  the  rest  of 
the  Lord  today,  by  coming  to  an  understanding  of  the  truths  of 
the  Gospel.  No  people  is  more  entitled  to  this  rest — this  peace 
of  the  spirit — than  are  members  of  the  Church.  It  is  true  that 
not  all  are  unsettled.  Not  all  need  to  seek  this  rest,  for  there  are 
many  who  now  possess  it,  whose  minds  have  become  satisfied,  and 
who  have  set  their  eyes  upon  the  mark  of  their  high  calling  with  an 
invincible  determination  in  their  hearts  to  be  steadfast  in  the 
truth,  and  who  are  treading  in  humility  and  righteousness  the  path 
marked  out  for  the  Saints  who  are  complacent  followers  of  Jesus 
Christ.  But  there  are  many  who,  not  having  reached  this  point 
of  determined  conviction,  are  driven  about  by  every  wind  of  doc- 
trine, thus  being  ill  at  ease,  unsettled,  restless.  These  are  they 
who  are  discouraged  over  incidents  that  occur  in  the  Church,  and 


EDITOR'S  TABLE.  715 

in  the  nation,  and  in  the  turmoils  of  men  and  associations.  They 
harbor  a  feeling  of  suspicion,  unrest,  uncertainty.  Their  thoughts 
are  disturbed,  and  they  become  excited  with  the  least  change,  like 
one  at  sea  who  has  lost  his  bearings. 

Among  this  latter  class  are  a  number  of  young  men  and  young 
women  who  are  not  thoroughly  established  in  the  knowledge  of  the 
Gospel,  having  not  settled  their  minds  as  to  the  course  they  should 
pursue.  They  are  not  founded  in  the  testimony  of  Jesus,  and 
have,  therefore,  not  entered  into  the  rest  spoken  of  by  the  proph- 
et. Were  they  convinced,  their  spirits  would  cease  to  be  agitated 
by  uncertainty  and  unrest,  and  they  would  find  consolation  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  taught  by  the  Latter- 
day  Saints.  They  would  understand  that  this  Gospel  is  the  power 
of  God  unto  salvation.  They  would  be  satisfied,  and  would  peace- 
fully pursue  a  straightforward  course,  in  conformity  with  the  law 
of  God,  swerving  neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left.  They  would 
not  seek  the  street  corners,  listening  to  men  with  alleged  new  re- 
ligions, who  are  in  reality  without  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  who  pretend  to  have  a  new  doctrine,  one  better  for  men  to 
lay  hold  of.  They  would  know  that  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ  they 
have  gems  of  far  greater  value  than  can  be  obtained  from  these 
pretended  dispensers  of  the  word  of  God.  If  they  had  thoroughly 
entered  into  that  rest  spoken  of  by  the  prophet,  they  would  not 
waste  their  time  seeking  for  and  listening  to  these  vague  doctrines 
of  men;  nor  would  they  be  driven  hither  and  thither,  to  and  fro,  by 
every  wind  of  doctrine  that  blows  along  their  way.  When  men 
are  thus  unsettled,  uncertain,  wavering,  never  quite  satisfied,  it  is 
evident  that  they  are  still  wandering,  seeking  for  rest  in  the  phil- 
osophies of  men,  rather  than  in  the  true  Gospel  of  Christ,  in  which 
alone  it  may  be  found. 

But  what  is  the  remedy?  Where  would  you  have  people  go 
who  are  unsettled  in  the  truth?  The  answer  is  plain.  They  will 
not  find  satisfaction  in  the  doctrines  of  men.  Let  them  seek 
for  it  in  the  written  word  of  God;  let  them  pray  to  him  in  their 
secret  chambers,  where  no  human  ear  can  hear,  and  in  their  closets 
petition  for  light;  let  them  obey  the  doctrines  of  Jesus,  and  they 
will  immediately  begin  to  grow  in  the. knowledge  of  the  truth.  This 
course  will  bring  peace  to  their  souls,  joy  to  their  hearts,  and  a 


716  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

settled  conviction  which  no  change  can  disturb.  They  may  be  well 
assured  that  ''he  that  heareth  in  secret  will  reward  them  openly." 
Let  them  seek  for  strength  from  the  Source  of  all  strength,  and  he 
will  provide  spiritual  contentment,  a  rest  which  is  incomparable 
with  the  physical  rest  that  cometh  after  toil.  All  who  seek  have 
a  right  to,  and  may  enter  into,  the  rest  of  God,  here  upon  the  earth, 
from  this  time  forth,  now,  today;  and  when  earth-life  is  finished, 
they  dhall  also  enjoy  his  rest  in  heaven. 

One  blessing  which  I  desire  above  all  blessings  here  upon  the 
earth  is  that  I  may  continue  to  enjoy  this  condition ;  for  it  brings  con- 
viction of  the  truth  to  the  soul,  and  peace  and  joy  and  satisfaction, 
and  banishes  restlessness  and  every  spirit  of  doubt.  It  prevents 
one  from  being  subject  to  the  cunning  craftiness  of  men,  and  places 
one  in  harmony  with  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  makes  one  established 
in  the  faith  and  doctrines  of  our  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ. 

I  know  that  Christ  is  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God,  that  he  is 
the  Redeemer  of  the  world,  that  he  was  raised  from  the  dead;  and 
that  as  he  arose,  so  shall  every  soul  bearing  the  image  of  God 
arise  from  the  dead  and  be  judged  according  to  his  works,  be  they 
good  or  evil.  In  the  never-ending  eternities  of  our  Father  in 
heaven,  the  righteous  shall  rejoice,  while  the  association  and  love  of 
their  families  and  friends  shall  glorify  them  through  the  ages  that 
are  to  come.     Joy  and  rest  unspeakable  will  be  their  reward. 

These  are  some  of  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ 
which  the  Latter-day  Saints  believe.  I  don't  wish  for  anything 
better;  I  desire  to  be  satisfied  in  these,  and  to  possess  that  peace 
and  joy  which  spring  from  the  contemplation  of  the  opportunities 
and  truths  that  are  embraced  in  this  gospel.  Were  I  to  seek  for 
other  truths,  where  would  I  go?  Not  to  man.  I  must  know  for 
myself,  from  the  source  which  provides  these  blessings  and  gifts; 
but  what  more  would  I  ask  for  than  a  knowledge  of  the  resurrec- 
tion, that  I  shall  be  made  whole  of  my  sins  and  become  perfect  in 
Christ  Jesus,  through  obedience  to  his  gospel?  Is  any  doctrine 
more  reasonable  and  more  compatible  with  free  agency  than  this? 
It  is  true  that  ancient  philosophers  taught  us  many  morals,  but 
where  in  all  the  philosophy  of  the  world,  have  we  better  teachings 
than  in  the  gospel  of  Christ  which  has  been  revealed  to  us,  and 
which  we  hold  and  are  made  partakers  of?    No  doctrine  was  ever 


EDITOR'S  TABLE.  717 

as  perfect  as  that  of  Jesus.  Christ  perfected  every  principle  that 
had  hitherto  been  taught  by  the  philosophers  of  the  world;  he  has 
revealed  to  us  the  way  of  salvation,  from  the  beginning,  and 
through  all  the  meanders  of  this  life  to  never-ending  exaltation  and 
glory  in  his  kingdom,  and  to  a  newness  of  life  therein.  He  has 
taught  us  that  man  is  a  dual  being,  the  offspring  of  God,  and  that 
the  body  and  the  spirit,  blended  in  one  immortal  soul,is  eventually  to 
stand  in  the  presence  of  its  maker,  and  see  as  it  is  seen,  and  know 
as  it  is  known.  Whenever  the  Lord  speaks  to  man,  he  speaks  to 
his  immortal  soul,  and  satisfaction  and  unsurpassing  peace  and  joy 
come  to  all  who  listen. 

Happy  is  the  man,  indeed,  who  can  receive  this  soul-satisfying 
testimony,  and  be  at  rest,  and  seek  for  no  other  road  to  peace  than 
by  the  doctrines  of  Jesus  Christ.  His  gospel  teaches  us  to  love  our 
fellow-men,  to  do  to  others  as  we  would  have  others  do  to  us, 
to  be  just,  to  be  merciful,  to  be  forgiving  and  to  perform  every 
good  act  calculated  to  enlarge  the  soul  of  man.  His  perfected 
philosophy  teaches  also  that  it  is  better  to  suffer  wrong  than  to  do' 
wrong,  and  to  pray  for  our  enemies  and  for  those  who  despitefully 
use  us.  There  are  no  other  gospels  or  systems  of  philosophy  that 
bear  these  marks  of  divinity  and  immortality.  You  may  hunt  the 
philosophies  of  the  world  in  vain  for  any  code  of  ethics  that  in- 
sures the  peace  and  rest  that  may  be  found  in  his  comprehensive, 
yet  simple,  gospel. 

To  the  young  man  or  the  young  woman  who  is  at  a  loss  to  know 
what  to  do,  among  all  the  various  teachings  that  are  extant  in  the 
world,  I  would  say:  Search  the  Scriptures,  seek  God  in  prayer,  and 
then  read  the  doctrines  that  have  been  proclaimed  by  Christ  in  his 
sermon  on  the  mount,  as  found  in  Matthew,  and  as  reiterated  to 
the  ancient  saints  upon  this  continent  (HI  Nephi.)  Having 
studied  these  splendid  standards,  and  searched  deeply  the  signifi- 
cance of  these  matchless  sentiments,  you  may  defy  the  philosophies 
of  the  world,  or  any  of  its  ethics  to  produce  their  equal.  The 
wisdom  of  men  is  not  to  be  compared  with  them.  They  lead  to  the 
rest  of  the  peaceable  followers  of  Christ,  and  enable  mankind  to 
become  perfect  as  he  is  perfect.  No  other  philosopher  has 
ever  said  as  Jesus  said,  "Come  unto  me."  From  the  beginning  of 
the  world  until  the  present  time,  no  other  philosopher  has  ever 


718  IMPROVEMENT  ERA 

cried  unto  the  people  such  words  of  love,  nor  guaranteed  and  de- 
clared power  within  himself  to  save.  "Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that 
labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest,"  is  his  call  to 
all  the  sons  and  daughters  of  men. 

The  Latter-day  Saints  have  answered  the  call,  and  thousands 
thereby  have  found  rest  and  peace  surpassing  all  understanding; 
and  this  notwithstanding  the  outward  fiery  ordeals,  the  turmoil 
and  the  strife,  through  which  they  have  passed.  They  rest  in  the 
knowledge  that  no  man  could  declare  or  teach  such  doctrine;  it  is 
the  truth  of  God. 

I  thank  our  Father  that  I  have  come  to  a  knowledge  of  this 
truth,  that  I  know  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  in  whom  alone  there  is 
rest  and  salvation.  As  God  lives,  they  are  deceived  who  follow 
men  and  their  philosophies;  but  happy  are  they  who  enter  into  the 
rest  of  the  peaceable  followers  of  Christ,  obtaining  a  sufficient  hope 
from  this  time  henceforth  until  they  shall  rest  with  him  in  heaven. 
They  depend  completely  upon  the  saving  power  of  his  Gospel,  and 
are  therefore  at  rest  in  all  the  tumult  of  mind  and  public  agitation 
which  beset  their  way. 

Joseph  F.  Smith. 


ANNUAL  CONFERENCE    OF    THE  MUTUAL  IMPROVEMENT 
ASSOCIATIONS. 

On  Sunday,  Monday  and  Tuesday,  the  5ih,  6th  and  7th  of  June, 
the  annual  conference  of  the  Mutual  Improvement  Associations  of 
the  Church  was  held  in  Salt  Lake  City.  The  first  meeting  was  a 
conjoint  session  of  the  officers,  held  in  the  Assembly  Hall,  and  was 
characterized  by  the  reading  of  several  strong  papers,  followed  by 
a  discussion,  three  subjects  treated  being,  "Reverence  for  our 
Places  of  Worship,"  by  Minnie  J.  Snow;  "Responsibility  of  Officers," 
by  Josiah  E.  Hickman,  Utah  stake;  "Our  Social  Life,"  by  Rose  W. 
Bennett.  After  the  discussion  of  "Reverence  for  Places  of  Wor- 
ship," the  following  resolution  was  unanimously  passed: 

Be  it  resolved  by  the  officers  of  the  Y.  L.  and  Y.  M.  M.  L  A.  in  con- 
ference assembled: 

That  we  will  exert  every  effort   to  persuade   the  members  of  our 


EDITOR'S  TABLE.  719 

associations  to  join  in  developing  in  the  hearts  of  the  young  people  a 
sentiment  of  reverence  for  sacred  places  and  sacred  things;  and  to  unite 
with  us  in  refraining  from  talk,  laughter,  and  all  unseemly  conduct  in 
our  worshiping  assemblages;  and  in  keeping  all  our  places  of  worship 
clean,  well  ventilated  and  attractive. 

The  meeting  was  continued  in  the  afternoon  at  the  large 
tabernacle,  where  a  numerous  congregation  gathered,  the  main 
features  of  the  exercises  being  an  address  of  welcome  by  Elder 
B.  H.  Roberts  and  an  address  on  marriage  by  President  Joseph  F. 
Smith.  In  the  evening,  at  7:30,  another  large  congregation  assem- 
bled in  the  Tabernacle,  the  speakers  being  Bryant  S.  Hinckley,  May 
Anderson,  of  the  Primary  Association,  George  A.  Smith,  Maud  May 
Babcock,  and  others. 

The  officers  of  the  Young  Men  met  in  the  Barratt  Hall  on  Mon- 
day, at  10  o'clock  a.m.  and  2  p.m.  There  were  two  subjects  presented 
at  each  meeting.  In  the  forenoon,  Preston  D.  Richards,  of  Granite 
stake,  spoke  on  "Five  Essentials  for  a  Successful  Superintendent," 
and  Oliver  Christiansen,  of  Juab,  on  "Five  Essentials  for  a  Success- 
ful President."  The  afternoon  meeting  was  occupied  by  J.  F.  Holton, 
of  Box  Elder,  on  "How  to  Interest  Non-Members  of  the  Church  in 
M.  I.  A.  Work,"  and  by  George  A.  Smith,  of  Salt  Lake,  on  "How 
to  Secure  Prompt  and  Regular  Attendance."  On  Tuesday,  at  10 
o'clock,  Joseph  W.  Musser,  of  Wasatch  spoke  on  "Reasons  Why 
Our  Associations  are  Worthy  of  the  Patronage  of  Parents,"  and 
David  H.  Morris,  of  St.  George,  on  "How  to  Apply  What  We  Learn." 
At  the  afternoon  meeting  of  that  day,  George  Q.  Morris,  of  Salt 
Lake,  spoke  on  "What  Influence  Has  M.  I.  on  the  Morals  of  Our 
Young  Men,"  and  John  A.  Hendricksen,  of  Cache,  on  "Qualifications 
of  Instructors."  The  subjects  were  well  treated,  and  created  great 
interest  among  the  large  number  of  officers  present.  Questions 
and  discussion  followed  each  subject. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  subjects  were  somewhat  diflferent 
from  those  presented  at  the  conferences  heretofore  held;  the  ma- 
chinery of  the  organization  was  not  specially  treated,  but,  rather, 
the  ethics  and  practice.  It  is  intended,  and  it  was  resolved  by  the 
officers  assembled,  to  present  a  manual  of  instruction  on  the  ma- 
chinery of  the  work  of  the  associations,  for  the  benefit  of  all  the 
officers,  in  time   for  the  opening  meetings  this   fall.     This  manual 


720  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

will  give  the  individual  instructions  to  officers  on  the  routine 
of  their  work,  including  the  opening  preparations,  conduct  of 
classes,  general  management  of  the  associations,  the  Era,  the  Im- 
provement fund,  the  conventions  to  be  held  in  September,  and  other 
instructions  pertaining  to  the  business  routine  of  the  associations. 

The  labors  of  the  organizations,  as  far  as  presented,  were 
very  gratifying,  both  in  a  spiritual  and  financial  sense.  The 
Improvement  fund  was  the  largest  this  season  of  any  [in  the 
history  of  the  associations,  and  Presideat  Smith  took  occasion 
to  caution  the  young  men,  on  this  account,  not  to  slacken 
their  efforts  in  the  collection  of  the  fund.  There  are  28,000  mem- 
bers of  the  asociations,  and  10,000  of  these  had  paid  the  annual 
amount  required.  He  stated  that  it  was  a  good  plan  to  have 
means  on  hand,  and  that  we  should  make  every  effort  to  collect 
the  required  amount  from  every  member.  The  surplus  now  on  hand, 
and  which  we  would  have  in  a  few  years,  might  be  profitably  used 
for  many  purposes,  among  which  he  mentioned  the  building  of 
homes  for  the  associations,  in  the  largest  cities  of  the  State,  such 
as  Salt  Lake,  Ogden,  Provo,  and  Logan,  in  which  the  organization 
could  receive  its  members,  have  a  library  and  reading  room,  gym- 
nasium, art  gallery,  and  any  other  arrangement  for  the  convenience 
and  benefit  of  the  members.  This  could  not  be  done  now,  but  it 
might  be  held  in  view,  and  we  should,  therefore,  not  lag  in  the  col- 
lection of  the  fund,  but  be  more  energetic  in  getting  all  the  mem- 
bers to  pay,  so  that  these  purposes,  in  time,  might  be  accom- 
plished. At  one  of  the  meetings,  a  number  of  the  stake  superin- 
tendents reported  on  the  efficacy  of  the  local  missionary  work. 
Wherever  the  local  priesthood  had  given  the  scheme  enthusiastic 
support,  much  good  had  resulted;  and  it  appeared  to  be  the  con- 
sensus of  opinion  that  local  missionary  work  should  be  vigorously 
continued. 

The  death  of  Sister  Helen  W.  Woodruff,  wife  of  Apostle  Abra- 
ham 0.  Woodruff,  in  Mexico,  on  the  last  day  of  the  conference, 
caused  deep  feelings  of  regret  among  all  present,  especially  in 
view  of  the  active  part  which  she  took  in  the  exercises  and  the 
banquet  of  the  officers  last  season.  A  committee  was  appointed, 
which  formulated   an   address  of   condolence  to  Elder  Woodruffs 


EDITOR'S  TABLE.  721 

which  was  unanimously  adopted  by  the  assembled  officers,  and  reads 
as  follows: 

Abraham  0.  Woodruff: 

Dear  Brother— Having  learned,  with  deep  regret,  of  the  death  of 
your  wife,  Helen  W.  Woodruff,  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  June  7,  1904, 
we,  your  associates  and  the  officers  of  the  Y.  M.  M.  I.  A.,  in  confer- 
ence assembled,  unitedly  join  in  expressing  to  you  our  sincere  sympathy 
in  the  bereavement  which  takes  from  you  a  loving  companion  and  wife, 
from  your  children  a  devoted  mother,  from  us  a  friend-  and  energetic 
worker.  We  express  to  you  and  to  your  children  the  sympathy  of  our 
hearts  in  the  irreparable  loss  which  you  and  they  and  all  of  us  have 
sustained,  and  pray  God  to  console  and  comfort  you  by  the  presence  and 
power  of  his  Holy  Spirit. 

Taken  altogether,  the  conference  was  a  pronounced  success 
in  many  ways,  and  will  be  a  great  impetus  in  the  cause  of  Mutual 
Improvement  for  the  coming  season.  Many  of  the  papers  which 
were  presented,  as  well  as  the  remarks  which  were  made,  were  of 
an  interesting  character,  and  will  be  printed,  from  time  to  time, 
in  the  pages  of  the  Era,  for  the  benefit  of  the  officers  who  were 
not  present,  and  for  the  reading  public  generally. 

The  reception  of  the  general  boards,  given  to  the  officers  of 
the  association  at  the  palatial  home  of  Sister  Elizabeth  C.  McCune, 
on  Tuesday  evening,  was  one  of  the  richest  treats  of  the  confer- 
ence, and  was  a  success  in  every  way. 


A  TALK  TO  GRADUATES. 

During  the  month  just  past  there  have  been  many  hundreds 
of  young  men  and  young  women  graduated  from  the  eighth  grade  of 
the  public  schools,  besides  many  from  the  high  schools,  from  the 
colleges  and  the  universities.  Superintendent  of  Schools  A.  C.  Nel- 
son informs  us  that  there  are  seven  hundred  more  graduates  this  year 
than  last,from  the  eighth  grade.  The  Improvement  Era  joins  in  con- 
gratulating them  upon  the  completion  of  their  courses  of  study,  and 
upon  the  attainment  of  the  progress  for  which  they  have  been 
laboring. 


722  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

Two  points,  in  passing,  we  desire  to  impress  upon  graduates 
who  may  read  these  lines.  First,  see  that  you  retain  fresh  in 
memory  the  knowledge  received,  by  applying  it,  as  far  as  possible, 
in  your  daily  lives.  Second,  gather  additional  truths  as  you  go 
on.  It  is  becoming  more  and  more  necessary  that  young  men 
and  young  women  who  go  out  into  the  world  should  equip  them- 
selves with  a  solid  foundation  of  knowledge,  with  a  good  training. 
As  they  leave  the  home,  where  they  have  had  the  care  of  their 
parents  and  guardians,  they  will  discover  that  it  is  a  precious  quali- 
fication to  have  a  good  education.  Business  competition  in  these 
days  almost  compels  a  man  to  be  well  trained  before  he  can  suc- 
ceed in  any  calling.  If  he  is  not  well  educated,  he  has  entered 
into  the  walks  of  life  very  poorly  equipped  to  compete  with  his 
fellows.  He  who  has  the  most  knowledge  and  the  best  business 
and  moral  training  will  succeed,  while  the  man  who  lacks  these 
qualifications  will  be  in  great  danger  of  being  brushed  aside  by 
the  more  competent. 

Hence  the  need  you  have  of  useful  knowledge.  Another  need 
for  it  is  that  training  broadens  the  mind,  and  it  may  be  made 
your  servant  in  the  formation  of  a  good  character. 

Moreover,  if  it  has  been  good  to  pass  through  the  discipline 
so  far,  and  to  accumulate  the  knowledge  which  you  now  possess, 
it  is  better  that  you  continue  further  on.  Not  only  should  you 
carefully  apply  the  knowledge  which  you  now  have,  but  you  should 
determine  to  gain  more.  It  should  be  your  hope  and  ambition  to 
finish  the  course  of  the  high  school.  You  need  this  addition  to 
your  knowledge,  that  you  may  broaden  your  capacities. 

You  will  find,  as  the  days  of  responsibility  come,  that  incom- 
pleteness is  a  handicap  always.  The  boy  or  the  girl  who  has  not 
thoroughly  prepared  himself  or  herself  for  the  opportunities  that 
are  surely  coming  to  them,  at  least  once  in  their  lifetimes,  will  feel 
sorry  in  days  to  come.  Opportunities  do  not  wait.  It  is  the  boy 
and  the  girl  who  are  prepared  to  grasp  them  and  to  take  advantage 
of  them  that  will  succeed.  You  can  do  no  better  than  to  get 
ready  to  make  profit  of  Opportunity  when  she  comes.  It  is  safe 
to  say  that  no  person  of  good  character,  honest,  industrious, 
and  willing,  who  has  thoroughly  prepared  himself,  has  ever  been 
known  to  fail  in  obtaining  a  chance  to  seize  Opportunity.    He  has 


EDITOR'S  TABLE.  723 

always  been  able  to  find  a  place  to  apply  his  learning  and  talents. 
On  the  other  hand,  many  men,  and  women  too  for  that  matter, 
who  have  not  prepared  themselves,  either  through  failure  to 
grasp  the  need  of  it  when  they  had  the  chance,  or  from  financial 
inability,  have  often  missed  splendid  opportunities  because  they 
were  not  prepared;  they  could  not  fill  the  requirements. 

It  is  better  for  a  young  man  to  wait  a  few  days  or  years 
longer,  and  make  thorough  preparation,  lay  a  broad,  strong  foun- 
dation, than  to  rush  into  the  business  world  to  take  upon  him- 
self responsibilities  too  early.  Obligations  and  trusts  will  come 
in  due  time.  Let  him  go  slowly  and  surely.  It  is  a  sad  thing  to 
see  a  young  man  who  is  really  incapable  take  upon  himself  too 
early  the  strict  requirements  of  business  life.  It  is  a  joy  to  meet 
a  young  old  man,  but  it  is  distressing  to  meet  an  old  young  man. 
Do  not  be  too  anxious  to  enter  into  life's  vocations  and  to  take  up- 
on you  arduous  tasks,  without  due  preparation.  Rather  seek  to 
apply  what  knowledge  you  have,  as  you  go  on,  and  determine  that 
you  will  obtain  more,  that  you  will  attend  the  high  school,  and 
that  you  will  not  fail,  if  opportunity  offers,  to  attend  the  university. 

Remember,  also,  that  knowledge  is  of  little  use  unless  it  is 
applied.  You  can  easily  tell  what  the  interest  on  one  hundred 
dollars,  for  one  year,  at  six  per  cent  is.  That  is  theory;  but  of 
what  value  is  that  knowledge  to  you  unless  you  can  put  the  facts 
into  practice?  Get  the  hundred  dollars  and  place  it  where  it 
will  bring  you  the  six  per  cent.  You  have  certain  theories  as  to 
character:  Thou  shalt  not  steal;  thou  shalt  not  lie;  thou  shalt 
not  bear  false  witness.  Go  put  them  into  practice.  Let  your 
theories,  by  applying  them  to  practice,  bear  the  fruits  of  a  noble 
character.  The  trouble  with  people  generally  is  not  that  they 
have  too  much  education,  but  that  too  little  of  it  is  applied  by 
those  who  have  it.  We  have  an  abundance  of  theories,  but  only 
too  little  practice. 

It  is  your  duty  now  to  use  the  spare  moments  of  your  vaca- 
tion in  the  most  profitable  way,  to  economize  your  time,  and  see 
to  it  that  as  few  as  possible  of  the  precious  moments  of  your 
youth  are  wasted  in  the  pursuit  of  things  having  little  or  no 
value.  Do  not  consider  yourselves  closed  to  learning  new  truths. 
Progress  is  eternal,  and  the  knowledge  that  you  have  obtained  in 


724  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

school  is  but  a  small  beginning.  Let  your  graduation  be  a  real 
commencement,  and  not  a  closing. 

You  go  out  into  the  world  today  prepared  only  to  learn 
more,  and  you  will  poorly  satisfy  your  friends  and  teachers,  much 
less  your  own  souls,  if  you  fail  in  that  continued  progress,  which 
it  is  decreed  shall  be  the  heritage  of  the  intelligence  within  you, 
through  all  the  days  of  time,  and  the  endless  eons  of  eternity. 

You  must  make  your  field  broader,  and  you  must  develop 
more  skill,  and  greater  ability  to  grasp  the  meaning  of  life  and  to 
deal  with  its  commonplace  and  cold  afliairs.  How?  By  commenc- 
ing now  on  a  new  and  higher  course.  It  is  true  that  you  stand 
well.  You  have  been  encouraged  by  your  teachers,  and  you  have 
accomplished  things  of  which  they  and  your  parents  are  proud, 
and  that  are  an  inspiration  to  other  boys  and  girls;  but  it  behooves 
you  still  to  remember  that  you  are  only  beginners,  that  you  have 
much  yet  to  learn,  both  in  and  out  ol  school.  When  you  have 
gathered  as  much  knowledge  as  possible  in  the  institutions  of 
learning,  there  still  remains  the  experiences  of  life  to  perfect 
your  characters,  as  it  was  intended  they  should  be  enlarged  and 
perfected  when  you  were  permitted  by  the  Lord  to  come  upon  the 
earth.  Above  all,  do  not  forget  your  religion;  fight  hard,  but  be 
merciful,  honest  and  just. 


GOVERNOR  HARDING. 

In  this  number  the  Era  presents  the  portrait  of  Governor 
Harding  whose  biography,  and  especially  his  connection  with  the 
local  militia,  has  heretofore  appeared  in  these  columns.  The  Era 
has  now  succeeded  in  preserving  a  complete  list  of  portraits  of  the 
governors  of  Utah. 


RADIUM. 


Through  the  kindness  of  Dr.  James  E.  Talmage,  the  Era  is 
enabled  to  present  in  this  number  an  exceedingly  attractive  and 
comprehensive  article  on  radium,  the  new  and  wonderful  discovery 
in  which  the  world  of  science  is  just  now  so  intensely  interested. 


EDITORS  TABLE.  725 

The  history  of  this  element  is  given,  and  the  reader  is  made  fam- 
iliar with  its  nature,  as  far  as  known.  The  experiments  mentioned 
by  Dr.  Talmage  are  especially  interesting,  and  his  own  experience 
added  makes  his  paper  of  special  value  to  our  readers  who,  we  are 
certain,  will  greatly  appreciate  this  distinguished  treat.  To  give 
room  for  this  paper,  and  other  articles,  and  at  the  same  time  pre- 
sent a  variety  of  matter  and  the  usual  departments,  sixteen  pages 
extra  are  added  to  this  number  of  the  Era 


TWO  BOOKS  ON    UTAH. 
^'The  Mountain  Empire— Utah.'' 

The  Era  has  received  from  Blair  and  Sloan,  publishers,  Salt  Lake 
City,  Utah,  The  Mountain  Empire — Utah,  containing  a  brief  and  authen- 
tic presentation  of  material  conditions  in  Utah;  also  facts  and  figures, 
from  authentic  sources,  of  special  interest  to  those  who  are  seeking  a 
more  desirable  place  in  which  to  make  a  home.  It  shows  the  opportunity 
that  Utah  offers  for  persons  who  have  means  which  they  desire  safely 
and  profitably  to  invest  in  business.  It  gives  something  of  the  settle- 
ment and  development  of  the  State,  and  its  outlook  and  promise  of  future 
greatness;  and  contains,  in  a  very  small  space,  a  wealth  of  infor- 
mation on  its  mining  and  agricultural  resources,  as  well  as  a  glimpse  of 
the  social,  financial  and  educational  conditions  obtaining.  The  book  con- 
sists of  142  pages,  has  70  illustrations  of  men  and  scenes  in  Utah,  and 
is  designed  for  distribution  at  the  St.  Louis  exposition.  Copies  are  also 
on  hand  for  general  sale  by  the  publishers;  price  50  cents. 

''Utah  As  It  Is." 

This  is  a  new  volume  of  639  pages,  recently  issued  by  Hon.  S.  A. 
Kenner,  author  and  writer.  The  volume  contains  a  large  number  of 
illustrations  and  biographical  sketches  of  leading  men,  with  useful  and 
well  classified  information  about  the  resources  of  Utah  at  the  present 
time,  together  with  a  readable  story  of  its  past.  The  book  is  well  worth 
consideration,  with  its  many  items  of  importance  and  interest  in  Utah 
history,  social,  political  and  religious — facts  which  all  should  know,  but 
which  are  not  always  handy  for  every  body  to  find.  The  author's  well 
known  humor  breaks  out  in  the  final  chapter  of  the  book,  in  which  he 
prints  his  autobiography,  almost  worth  the  price  of  the  book,  to  lov- 
ers of  humor.    Salt  Lake  City,  Utah;  price,  $2.00. 


IN  LIGHTER    MOOD. 


Chauncy  M.  Depew  is  quoted  in  Harper's  Weekly  as  saying: 

"Whenever  1  hear  the  accusation  that  my  speeches  are  too  long,  I 
am  reminded  of  the  story  told  by  Horace  Porter.  It  was  about  an  Irish- 
man who  went  into  an  East  Side  barber  shop  to  get  his  hair  cut.  He 
had  been  imbibing  pretty  freely,  and  went  to  sleep  as  soon  as  he  got 
fairly  settled  in  the  chair.  The  barber,  a  son  of  Italy,  began  his  work, 
but  presently  a  fight  in  the  street  caused  him  to  look  around,  and  in 
the  act  he  clipped  off  the  lower  part  of  one  of  the  Irishman's  ears.  See- 
ing what  he  had  done,  he  set  up  a  terrible  howling  and  awoke  his  cus- 
tomer. 

"  'Phwat's  th'  matter?'  demanded  Pat. 

"  'Matter?  Sapriste!  I  cut  off  part  of  your  ear,'  wailed  the 
barber. 

"  'An'  phwat  if  ye  did?  he  growled.  'It  was  too  long,  anyway. 
G'wan  wid  yer  job.' " 

Nat  Goodwin,  the  actor,  tells  a  story  of  an  encounter  with  a  lunatic 
on  a  country  road,  which  makes  one's  hair  stand  on  end: 

"I  was  playing  in  Austin,  Texas,  at  the  time,  and  one  day  strolled 
out  along  a  country  road  which  skirted  the  river.  I  had  walked  probably 
half  a  mile,  when  suddenly  a  man  scrambled  from  the  bushes  near  the 
water  and  advanced  near  toward  me.  I  saw  at  a  glance  that  he  was 
crazy.  His  clothes  were  torn,  his  face  flushed,  and  his  eyes  glittered 
with  the  fire  of  insanity.     In  one  hand  he  grasped  a  huge  knife. 

"I  confess  I  was  dismayed.  The  lunatic  meant  mischief,  and  there 
I  was  without  a  weapon  of  any  kind  to  defend  myself.  There  was  not  a 
house  or  human  being  aside  from  the  maniac  in  sight.  There  was  only 
one  thing  to  do,  and  I  did  it  without  loss  of  time.  I  took  to  my  heels 
and  sprinted  down  the  road.  The  lunatic  shrieking  with  fury,  darted 
after  me.  Before  we  had  gone  two  hundred  yards  I  knew  that  I  was  no 
match  for  him  as  a  runner.  Just  as  I  made  this  discovery  I  tripped  over 
a  stone  and  sprawled  full  length  in  the  dust.  The  next  moment  I  could 
feel  the  lunatic's  hot  breath  upon  my  face.  Something  touched  my  shoul- 
der. I  thought  it  was  that  horrible  knife.  It  wasn't.  It  was  the  mani- 
ac's hand.      Springing  to  his  feet,  he  darted  away  and  called  out  airily: 

'"Tag!    You're  it!'" 


OUR  WORK. 


M.  I.  A.  WORK  IN    ENGLAND. 

From  the  Millennial  Star  of  May  12,  it  is  learned  that  improvement 
work  in  England  is  active  for  good: 

The  Mutual  Improvement  association  of  the  Birmingham  branch 
gave  a  social  in  the  Handsworth  Assembly  rooms,  on  the  evening  of 
April  26th.  An  enjoyable  musical  program  was  rendered  and  light  re- 
freshments were  served.  The  affair  was  greatly  appreciated  by  the  Saints 
and  numerous  friends. 

The  Mutual  Improvement  association  of  Bradford  has  an  enrollment 
of  ninety-three  members,  and  an  average  attendance  of  fifty-six.  These 
figures  make  it  by  far  the  largest  association  in  the  mission  field,  and  the 
officers  are  to  be  congratulated  on  the  character  of  the  work  that  is  be- 
ing done,  and  on  the  interest  that  is  evinced  by  the  members,  no  less  than 
on  the  numerical  strength  of  their  organization. 

In  the  Millennial  Star  of  May  19,  there  is  an  editorial  on  the  labors 
of  the  auxiliary  associations  in  England,  in  which  the  Mutual  Improve- 
ment Associations  receive  due  credit  for  the  good  work  which  they 
have  performed.  These  associations  have  been  firmly  established,  and 
last  year  witnessed  a  wonderful  growth  in  Great  Britain,  in  both 
the  Sunday  schools  and  Mutual  Improvement  associations.  New  schools 
and  associations  were  organized,  and  those  already  founded  increased 
greatly  in  numbers  and  in  interest.  "They  have  proved  an  inestimable 
blessing  to  the  children  and  to  the  young  people  of  the  Latter-day  Saints, 
They  have  afforded  to  them  the  same  opportunities  for  development 
along  spiritual  lines  that  are  to  be  obtained  in  the  stakes  of  Zion.  They 
have  put  them  more  closely  in  touch  with  the  great  body  of  the  Church, 
and  have  given  them  personal  responsibilities,  when,  in  time  past,  they 
were  wont  only  to  depend  upon  others.  Especially  is  the  usefulness  of 
these  auxiliary  organizations  shown  where  local  Saints  are  chosen  as 
presiding  officers  or  as  permanent  teachers."  The  Star  encourages  the 
officers  and  members  of  the  associations  to  continue  their  efforts  during 
the  summer,  and  remarks  that  where  the  auxiliary  organizations  are 


728  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

kept  active  there  will  be  no  trouble  in  securing  a  good  attendance  for 
the  regular  Sunday  services. 

A  Mutual  Improvement  Association  was  organized  at  Sunderland,  on 
the  11th  inst.,  with  an  enrollment  of  twenty-two  members.  A  renewed 
interest  is  being  taken  in  the  Gospel  in  this  district.  Street  and  hall 
meetings  are  being  well  attended,  and  a  number  of  honest  souls  are  about 
ready  for  baptism.  The  newspapers  of  Sunderland  have  given  the  Elders 
quite  fair  notices  of  their  work. — Millennial  Star,  May  26. 


FLOURISHING    NORWEGIAN  M.   I.    A. 

The  cause  of  Mutual  Improvement  is  prospering,  not  only  in  Zion 
but  abroad  also.  In  Skandinaviens  Stjerne,  of  May  12,  the  presidency 
of  the  Young  Men's  Mutual  Improvement  Association  of  Christiania, 
Norway, — Christian  Johannesen,  Frithjof  E.  Weberg  and  Alfred  Kaal- 
stad, — give  a  very  encouraging  report  of  the  labors  of  their  association, 
in  that  place.  The  organization  has  existed  for  twenty-five  years  and 
has  at  present  a  membership  of  fifty,  with  the  usual  oflScers.  It  issues  a 
monthly  paper  entitled  Knowledge  and  Light.  During  the  season  past, 
one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  subjects  of  a  religious  and  miscellaneous 
character  were  presented,  besides  music  and  songs,  answers  to  ques- 
tions, etc.  Thirty-five  meetings  were  held,  eleven  of  which  were  con- 
joint meetings  with  the  Young  Ladies'  Association,  besides  two  special 
and  five  business  meetings.  They  have  a  library  of  eighty-two  volumes 
which  have  been  loaned  during  the  year,  with  an  income  of  thirty 
kroner.  The  entire  assets  of  the  association  is  four  hundred  kroner.  On 
the  7th  of  May,  1902,  it  was  decided  that  the  Christiania  association 
should  sustain  a  local,  special  missionary  for  two  or  three  years  in  the 
field,  which  has  been  done  at  a  cost  of  several  hundred  kroner,  from  a 
special  fund  for  that  purpose,  to  the  great  pleasure  and  blessing  of  the 
members,  and  the  advancement  of  the  Church.  The  experiment  was  so 
successful  that  this  is  still  continued. 

One  of  the  characteristics  of  the  association  is  the  preparation  of  a 
local  chronology  and  history  of  the  Church,  which  is  carefully  recorded 
by  fifteen  members  of  the  association  selected  for  that  purpose.  The 
committee  also  keep  a  scrap-book  of  all  the  articles  that  are  inserted  in 
the  daily  papers,  magazines,  etc.,  both  for  and  against  the  Latter-day 
Saints.  These  labors  have  been  carried  on  systematically  for  three  years, 
and  doubtless,  if  continued,  will  be  of  great  historical  value  to  the 
Church, 


OUR  WORK.  729 

The  association  has  well  ordered  and  comfortable  rooms,  where  the 
members  often  gather  for  an  evening  in  reading,  conversation  and  songs. 
It  is  entitled  "The  Young  People's  Annex,"  and  has  become  a  social  gath- 
ering place  for  them.  The  association  has  chosen  as  its  motto,  "The  glory 
of  God  is  intelligence,"  and  they  bid  fair  to  gather  enough  of  this  intelli- 
gence to  steer  their  course  through  the  labyrinths  of  life,  in  a  way  that 
will  be  a  credit  to  themselves,  and  that  will  render  valued  assistance  to 
the  builders  of  the  dispensation  of  the  fulness  of  times. 


NEW  SUPERINTENDENT  CHOSEN- 

At  the  quarterly  conference  of  the  San  Juan  Stake,  held  in  Bluff,  on 
the  7th  and  8th  of  May,  Fletcher  B.  Hammond  was  chosen  and  set  apart 
as  superintendent  of  the  Young  Men's  Mutual  Improvement  Associations 
of  that  stake.  He  was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death 
of  former  superintendent  Hans  Joseph  Nielson. 


EVENTS   OF  THE   MONTH. 


Local— May,  1904. 

Visit  of  Maud  Adams. — This  popular  actress  appeared  in  Salt  Lake 
City,  on  the  28rd,  in  "The  Little  Minister."  She  is  a  native  of  Salt  Lake 
City,  and  was  given  a  pretty  testimonial,  in  the  shape  of  a  silver  loving 
cup,  by  her  friends  of  the  days  of  old.  Governor  Wells  made  the  pre- 
sentation speech,  to  which  the  graceful  actress  responded.  For  three 
nights  the  theatre  was  crowded  in  her  honor. 

Water-Works  for  Heber  City. — The  citizens  of  Heber  met  in 
mass-meeting  on  the  24th  to  consider  the  water-works  question,  and, 
with  a  large  majority,  passed  a  resolution  to  bond  the  city  for  the  pur- 
pose of  establishing  a  water  system  from  a  spring  in  the  mountains  a 
mile  and  a  half  east  of  Heber  to  Main  Street.  The  necessary  steps  will 
doubtless  be  taken  by  the  legally  constituted  authorities,  and  it  looks 
now  as  if  Heber  would  have  a  water  system.  Other  towns  similarly  sit- 
uated should  follow  the  example.  Much  of  the  ill  health  of  the  settle- 
ments would  be  avoided  if  there  were  proper  provisions  made  for  water. 

Condemning  the  "Mormons." — The  religious  combinations  of  the 
land  still  persist  in  condemning  the  Latter-day  Saints,  and  in  making 
sensational  resolutions  destined  to  create  prejudice  against  "the  iniquity 
of  'Mormonisra,' "  as  they  call  it.  Thus,  on  the  24th,  the  Methodists' 
general  Conference  at  Los  Angeles,  California,  passed  a  resolution  asking 
Congress  to  "enact  a  constitutional  amendment  that  will  make  impossible 
certain  practices  of  'Mormonism'  in  any  part  of  the  United  States  or 
in  any  country  subject  to  its  jurisdiction."  On  the  same  day  the  Bap- 
tists, in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  passed  resolutions  against  "the  un-American 
and  lawless  attitude  of  the  'Mormon'  hierarchy,"  and  on  the  same  day,  at 
Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  the  Presbyterian  general  convention  passed  a  resolution 
heartily  commending  the  "work  of  the  Christian  women  of  all  denomina- 
tions in  carrying  on  such  a  successful  campaign  against  the  iniquity  of 
'Mormonism.' "  On  the  26th,  at  Dallas,  Texas,  the  general  assembly  of 
the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church  resolved  that  ministers  and  laymen 


EVENTS  OF  THE  MONTH.  731 

"use  all  their  influence  against  the  spread  of  the  doctrine  of  the  'Mor- 
mon' Church,"  On  the  25th,  at  the  close  of  the  Biennial  Convention  of 
the  General  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs,  St.  Louis,  a  resolution  was 
passed,  extending  the  thanks  of  that  organization  "to  the  United  States 
Senate,  for  the  investigation  into  an  organization  which  controls  its  ad- 
herents morally,  politically  and  commercially,"  and  condemning  the 
"systematic  effort  of  that  body  to  undermine  the  Christian  standards  of 
marriage,  and  to  dominate  state  and  national  legislation,  "and  further 
urging  upon  the  senators  to  take  such  legislative  action  as  will  "prevent 
the  recognition  of  a  power  which  undermines  moral  standards,  and  advo- 
cates the  continuance  of  practices  which  are  contrary  to  the  principles 
of  the  American  people."  Mrs.  C.  E.  Allen,  of  Utah,  made  a  bitter  speech 
supporting  the  resolution,  and  Miss  Alice  Reynolds,  of  Utah,  the  only 
"Mormon"  woman  in  the  convention,  tried  to  make  a  response,  saying: 
"If  the  resolution  relates  to  the  laws  of  my  country  and  my  people,  there 
is  another  side  you  must  hear.  The  'Mormon'  women  stand  for  purity;" 
(here  her  ringing  tones  were  heard  to  the  farthest  corners  of  the  hall) 
"to  find  a  'Mormon'  woman  who  does  not,  would  be  as  difficult  to  dis- 
cover as  the  proverbial  'needle  in  the  haystack.'  As  a  Democrat,  I  have 
voted  in  freedom;  so  have  most  of  my  people.  Look  into  things,  and  get 
the  facts  before  you  attempt  to  pass  such  a  resolution  as  this.  The 
'Mormon'  women" — but  here  she  was  choked  off,  in  the  middle-  of  a  sen- 
tence, on  the  score  that  the  discussion  was  out  of  order. 

Notwithstanding  all  these  resolutions,  the  Latter-day  Saints  are 
pursuing  the  even  tenor  of  their  way,  training  their  children  in  the  love 
of  Christ  and  the  gospel,  and  seeking  the  welfare  of  all,  preaching  the 
gospel  in  humility,  and  bearing  testimony  to  the  mission  of  Christ  in  all 
the  world.  They  appear  to  be  the  only  really  Christian  organization  in 
the  world;  the  absurdity  of  attacking  the  virtue,  loyalty,  and  social  life 
of  the  Latter-day  Saints,  can  only  be  thoroughly  understood  by  people 
familiar  with  the  common  mode  of  Christian  life,  and  with  that  of  the 
Saints. 

Arrival  of  29th  Infantry.— On  the  morning  of  the  25th,  the 
Twenty-ninth  Infantry,  under  Col.  Benjamin  F.  Lockwood,  arrived  in 
Salt  Lake  City,  and  the  Colonel  took  command  of  the  military  post  at 
Ft.  Douglas.  Among  the  officers  are  Major  Thurston  and  Captain  Briant 
S.  Wells  and  Lieutenant  W.  H.  Point,  all  of  whom  are  well  known  in 
Salt  Lake  City,  the  latter  two  being  at  home  here.  Companies  K  and  M 
went  straight  through  to  Price,  whence  they  will  march  to  Ft.  Duchesne, 
under  command  of  Captains  Robert  H.  Allen  and  Charles  H.  Paine  and 
others. 


732  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

Death  of  Adolph  Jessen  and  Mr.  Allred. — On  the  26th,  Adolph 
Jessen  of  Salt  Lake,  and  his  assistant,  Hugh  Allred,  of  Spring  City,  came 
to  their  death,  near  Bingham,  while  surveying  a  placer  claim,  their  steel 
tape  which  they  held  while  measuring  coming  in  contact  with  a  live  wire 
of  the  Telluride  Power  Co.,  killing  both  men  instantly.  Mr.  Jessen  was 
fifty-three  years  of  age,  a  native  of  Germany,  a  brilliant  and  well  known 
engineer,  and  an  estimable  citizen,  having  been  engaged  twenty-four 
years  in  Salt  Lake  City  and  in  the  State,  in  mining,  newspaper  work,  and 
engineering.  He  was  well-respected  in  every  walk  of  life,  and  his  death> 
under  the  conditions,  is  a  great  public  calamity.  Hugh  Allred  was  an 
estimable  young  man,  twenty-nine  years  of  age,  respected  in  his  home 
•city.     He  leaves  a  wife  and  one  child. 

The  Brigham  Young  University. — The  report  of  the  presidency 
•of  the  Brigham  Young  University,  for  the  28th  academic  year  ending 
May  26th,  shows  that  the  University  was  in  session  thirty-eight  weeks; 
with  an  enrollment  in  the  preparatory  school  of  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
five;  high  school  and  normal  school,  including  training  school  and  kin- 
dergarten, seven  hundred  and  fifty- three;  commercial  school,  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty-nine;  music  school,  three  hundred  and  one;  the  college, 
sixty-three;  making  an  enrollment  at  Prove  of  one  thousand  two  hun- 
dred and  ten.  The  enrollment  at  the  Beaver  Branch  was  one  hundred 
and  ninety-one,  making  a  grand  total  of  one  thousand  four  hundred  and 
■one  students.  There  are  forty-seven  regular  salaried  teachers,  with 
three  on  part  salary.  The  faculty  at  Beaver  consists  of  seven  regular 
teachers.  There  were  seven  hundred  and  fifteen  bound  volumes  added 
to  the  library  during  the  year.  At  least  one  of  its  professors  has  been 
abroad  studying,  and  for  the  year  to  come  Professor  N.  L.  Nelson,  of 
this  university,  will  go  abroad. 

Utah  Naval  Students  at  Annapolis. — On  the  31st,  the  second 
•and  third  classes  of  the  mid-ship  men  of  the  naval  academy  at  Annapolis 
were  notified  of  their  formal  standing.  Three  Utah  boys  stand  well  in 
the  ranks  of  their  classes,  viz.,  William  C.  Barker,  of  Ogden,  stands  sec- 
ond in  the  third  class;  Stephen  W.  Wallace,  of  Salt  Lake,  stands  ninth 
in  the  same  class;  Robert  L.  Irvine,  of  Salt  Lake,  is  twenty-fifth  in  the 
second  class. 

Vale,  42  Islington.— Since  March,  1855,  when  Apostle  Franklin 
D.  Richards  first  rented  42  Islington,  Liverpool,  the  headquarters  of  the 
British  and  European  missions  have  continued  in  that  old  place  until  the 
-early  part  of  May,  this  year,  when  the  headquarters  of  the  British  and 
JEuropean  mission  were  removed  and  changed  to  10  Holly  Road,  Fairfield, 


EVENTS  OF  THE  MONTH.  73a 

Liverpool,  to  which  latter  address  all  mail  for  the  Liverpool  office  should 
hereafter  be  addressed.  The  Millennial  Star  of  May  5  notices  the  change, 
and  calls  attention  to  the  many  historical  reminiscences  connected  with 
old  42,  and  closes  with  these  words:  "It  has  served  its  period  of  use- 
fulness. The  work  accomplished  beneath  its  roof  is  recorded  in  books 
that  time  cannot  destroy;  and  we  leave  it  with  thankful  hearts  for  the 
many  blessings  with  which  the  Lord  has  blessed  His  Church,  for  the 
thousands  that  have  accepted  the  gospel  plan  of  life  and  salvation,  for 
all  the  good  that  he  has  permitted  to  be  done,  and  for  the  happy  mem- 
ories that,  in  the  minds  of  the  Saints,  will  always  be  associated  with  42 
Islington."  Walter  M.  Woolfe  has  been  i-eleased  from  his  labors  in  th& 
Liverpool  office,  and  with  the  Star  of  May  26,  Nephi  Anderson,  well 
known  to  readers  of  the  Era,  makes  his  initial  bow  to  the  public  as  asso- 
ciate editor. 

New  Bishops  Ordained. — In  Salt  Lake  City,  on  Sunday,  15th, 
Edwin  F.  Parry  was  chosen  and  sustained  bishop  of  the  Sixteenth  Ward,^ 
vice  George  R.  Emery,  who  is  new  in  the  presidency  of  the  Salt  Lake 
Stake.  Elder  Parry  chose  as  his  counselors,  Alfred  Winn  and  Alfred 
Gardiner.  In  Salt  Lake  City,  on  Sunday,  22nd,  at  a  meeting  held  in  the 
Twelfth  Ward,  Thomas  A.  Williams  was  chosen  and  sustained  bishop  of 
the  ward,  vice  Hyrum  B.  Clawson,  resigned.  Elders  Charles  W.  Hardy 
and  Heber  K.  Aldous  were  chosen  counselors  by  Bishop  Williams,  in 
Spring  City,  on  Sunday,  29th,  the  bishopric  of  that  ward  was  organized 
with  Lauritz  0.  Larsen,  bishop,  and  John  S.  Bain  and  Henry  A.  Acord, 
counselors. 

Died. — In  the  Twenty-seventh  Ward,  Salt  Lake  City,  18th,  Caroline 
D.  West,  a  Relief  Society  Worker.  In  Ferron,  Emery  Co.,  19th,  William 
Taylor,  first  bishop  of  Ferron.  In  Salt  Lake  City,  19th,  Joseph  Clark 
Stickley,  a  High  Priest  in  the  Granite  Stake;  born  April  3,  1819,  in  West 
Andover,  Miss.;  joined  the  Church  in  1842;  came  to  Utah  in  pioneer  days,, 
and  for  some  twenty  years  was  president  of  the  High  Priests'  Quorum 
in  the  Utah  Stake  of  Zion.  In  Twin  Groves,  Fremont  Co.,  Idaho,  Sunday, 
22nd,  Catherine  N.  Barlow,  a  pioneer  of  Washington  Co.,  Utah;  born 
Manchester,  England,  March  17,  1827.  In  Salt  Lake  City,  24th,  Phoebe 
Wolstenholm;  born  London,  1821;  came  to  Utah  in  1854;  a  hospitable 
and  kind  hearted  woman  of  strong  character.  In  Farmers'  Ward,  this 
city,  24th,  Annie  Pulsipher  Jones,  a  pioneer  of  Cache  Co.,  born  Shrop- 
shire, England,  1823.  In  Logan,  Peter  Afflick,  Thursday,  26th;  one  of  the 
oldest  residents  of  that  city;  born  Oct.  26,  1834.  In  Weston,  Idaho,  Friday, 


734  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

27th,  John  H.  Clark,  bishop  of  that  ward;  born  seventy  years  ago;  a  pio- 
neer of  Cache  and  Bear  Lake  valleys.  In  Mendon,  Saturday,  28th, 
Henry  Hughes,  formerly  bishop  of  that  ward;  born  in  Wales,  fifty  years 
ago.  In  Sugar  House,  Granite  Stake,  30th,  Charles  G.  Walker;  one  of 
the  guards  in  Echo  Canyon  during  the  Johnston  army  trouble,  and  a 
Black  Hawk  veteran.  In  Salt  Lake  City,  Monday,  30th,  Harriet  A. 
Hardy,  wife  of  the  late  Bishop  Leonard  W.  Hardy;  born  Lunenburg, 
Mass.,  March  9,  1828;  came  to  Utah  in  1850. 

Death  op  Joseph  N.  Haywood. — While  working  in  his  field,  at 
Thatcher,  Arizona,  Joseph  N.  Haywood  was  accidentally  killed,  on  Fri- 
day, May  10.  He  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  child  born  in  Nephi,  Utah, 
having  been  born  on  the  18th  of  November,  1851.  He  filled  a  mission 
to  New  Zealand  in  1888;  acted  as  stake  clerk  for  some  time,  and  for 
four  years  was  bishop  of  the  Alpine  Ward  of  the  St.  Johns  Stake  of  Zion. 

New  President  Chosen.— On  the  16th,  William  W.  Riter  was 
chosen  president  of  the  Board  of  Regents  of  the  University  of  Utah,  to 
fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of  Hon.  James  Sharp. 

New  Forest  Reserve. — By  proclamation  of  President  Theodore 
Roosevelt,  on  the  26th  of  May,  1904,  the  Salt  Lake  forest  reserves  were 
created,  covering  such  parts  of  the  Wasatch  Mountains  from  City  Creek 
Canyon  to  below  the  Cottonwoods,  as  have  not  heretofore  been  selected 
for  mineral,  agricultural  or  grazing  purposes.  This  makes  the  eighth  re- 
serve in  Utah. 

Local — June,  1904. 

New  Bishop  Chosen. — On  Thursday,  June  2,  Charles  P.  Margetts 
was  sustained  as  bishop  of  the  Seventh  Ward,  Salt  Lake  City,  Pioneer 
Stake,  vice  William  Thorn,  who  resigned  on  account  of  his  age  and  feeble 
health,  after  a  service  of  thirty- four  years.  Elder  Margetts  chose  as  his 
counselors  Elders  Alfred  T.  Thorn  and  Laurentius  Dahlquist. 

Democratic  State  Convention. — There  were  five  hundred  and 
twenty-four  delegates  appointed  from  the  twenty-seven  counties  of  Utah 
to  meet  for  the  purpose  of  electing  six  delegates  and  six  alternates  to 
the  National  Democratic  Convention  at  St.  Louis.  Nearly  all  met  in  the 
Salt  Lake  Theatre,  on  the  9th,  and  the  following  were  chosen:  Member 
National  Committee. — David  Henry  Peery,  Salt  Lake.  National  Dele- 
gates.— Frank  J.  Cannon,  Weber;  Joseph  Monson,  Cache;  Joseph  L.  Raw- 
lins, Salt  Lake;  Simon  Bamberger,  Salt  Lake;  Sam.  A.  King,  Utah;  George 
C.  Whittemore,  Juab;    Alternate  Delegates. — A.  L.  Lovey,  Salt  Lake; 


EVENTS  OF  THE  MONTH.  735 

A.  R.  Weeter,  Summit;  Elizabeth  J.  D.  Roundy,  Salt  Lake;  Mrs.  J.  Few- 
son  Smith,  Salt  Lake;  John  R.  Barnes,  Davis;  E.  R.  Davis,  Utah. 

Domestic— May,  1904. 

Death  op  Senator  Quay. — Senator  Stanley  Matthew  Quay  died 
at  Beaver,  Penn.,  on  May  28.  He  was  a  man  who  had  dominated 
politically  one  of  the  richest  and  most  populous  commonwealths  of  the 
union  for  thirty  years.  He  made  and  unmade  its  governors,  congress- 
men, mayors  and  other  officials,  and,  as  is  stated  in  the  Literary  Digest, 
"at  the  same  time  has  been  the  admiration,  the  wonder  and  the  horror 
of  politicians  of  various  ethical  standards."  He  served  in  the  Civil  War, 
was  a  man  of  fine  literary  tastes,  and  was  always  loyal  to  his  friends 
and  to  his  words,  but  was  a  man  of  more  vigor,  energy  and  brilliancy 
than  of  moral  qualities.  He  was  born  at  Dellsburg,  Pa.,  September  30, 
1833.      His  present  term  would  have  expired  in  1905. 

Massacred  by  Moros. — On  the  23rd  of  May,  it  was  reported  that 
fifty-three  Filipinos  were  massacred  by  Moros,  in  Mindanao,  on  May  12. 
These  were  mostly  women  and  children  who  were  employed  by  the  gov- 
ernment, and  were  surprised  while  asleep. 

School  Teachers  From  Porto  Rico. — On  the  26th  of  May,  six 
hundred  young  women,  who  were  teachers  in  the  schools  of  Porto  Rico, 
started  for  New  York.  Four  hundred  of  these  will  be  instructed  at  Har- 
vard and  two  hundred  at  Cornell.  About  half  the  cost,  or  nearly  thirty 
thousand  dollars,  will  be  met  by  contributions  from  the  people  of  the 
states,  and  each  teacher  gives  one  month's  salary  for  the  expenses  of  this 
visit. 

Foreign— May,  1904. 

France  and  the  Pope. — It  is  distictly  understood  that  the  papacy 
has  never  abandoned  its  claims  to  temporal  power,  and  considers  yet  the 
existing  Italian  government  a  usurpation.  For  this  reason  the  author- 
ities at  the  Vatican  resent  the  recent  visit  of  President  Loubet,  of 
France,  who  is  the  head  of  a  Catholic  state,  to  the  king  of  Italy,  as  an 
affront,  and  express  their  views  in  a  protest  to  the  French  government 
and  to  other  governments  which  had  diplomatic  relations  with  the  Vatican. 
This  is  the  cause  for  the  French  government  recalling  their  ambassador 
to  the  Holy  See,  on  May  21st,  straining  still  further  the  relations  be- 
tween the  French  government  and  the  Vatican,  which  relations  were 
already  highly  embittered  by  the  suppression  of  schools  conducted  by 
the  Catholic  orders  in  France,  heretofore  not  in  the  columns. 


736  IMPROVEMENT  ERA. 

Kidnapped  Americans.— On  the  18th  Moorish  brigands  kidnapped 
and  carried  off  into  the  mountains,  for  ransom,  an  American  citizen  of 
Greek  parentage,  who  resided  at  Tangier,  together  with  his  step-son. 
The  man's  name  was  Ian  Perdicaris,  and  his  step-son,  of  English  des- 
cent, was  Mr.  Cromwell  Varley.  President  Roosevelt  ordered  the  South 
Atlantic  squadron,  commanded  by  Admiral  Chadwick,  to  proceed  to  Tan- 
gier to  urge  the  Moorish  government  for  their  release,  and  the  British 
government  has  also  sent  a  war  ship  to  Tangier  to  protect  foreigners. 
For  some  time  Morocco  has  been  disturbed  by  insurrection,  and  the 
reign  of  the  present  Sultan  is  liable  to  end  in  great  trouble.  Perdicaris 
was  born  in  the  U.  S.  consulate  at  Athens,  April  1,  1840.  His  Ameri- 
can home  is  at  Trenton,  New  Jersey,  but  he  has  spent  most  of  his  time 
at  Tangier,  where  he  had  built  a  splendid  palace,  spending  thousands  of 
dollars  in  the  sanitation  and  improvement  of  the  city,  and  in  benefac- 
tions to  the  poor.  He  had  often  had  as  guest  the  brigand  Rasoulli,  who, 
on  the  18th,  broke  in  upon  a  dinner  party,  with  his  followers,  and  took 
Mr.  Perdicaris  and  his  step-son,  as  unwilling  guests,  to  his  mountain  re- 
treat, and  for  whom  he  is  now  seeking  a  ransom  in  money. 

The  Battle  of  Nan  Shan  Hill.— On  the  26th  of  May,  one  of  the 
fiercest  attacks  of  modern  times  was  made  by  the  Japanese  army  upon 
the  Russians.  They  captured  Kin  Chau  and  the  heights  beyond.  The 
battle  lasted  two  days,  ending  in  a  sweeping  victory  for  the  Japanese 
over  the  Russians,  by  which  they  cleared  the  way  towards  Port  Arthur. 
The  Russians  report  their  losses  as  thirty  officers  and  eight  hundred 
men  killed  or  wounded.  They  blew  up  or  damaged  all  their  guns,  which 
the  Japanese  had  not  put  out  of  action.  The  Japanese  losses  were 
thirty-one  officers  and  seven  hundred  and  thirteen  non-commissioned 
officers  and  men  killed,  one  hundred  officers  and  twelve  sergeant-majors, 
and  three  thousand,  four  hundred  and  sixty  non-commissioned  officers 
and  men  wounded.  The  real  fighting  was  practically  confined  to  May 
25  and  26. 


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JOSEPH  SIBITH 

BY  HIS  MOTHER 

ItUCY  SJWITH, 

Is  now  on  sale.      Handsomely 
bound  in  cloth.    Price 

Sl.OO 

On  Sale  at  Office  of 

HHPHOyElBEBT  ERA, 

214  Templeton^ 

SALT  LAKE  CITY,     -    -     -     UTAH 


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..CIIHPEJITERS'  TOOhS.. 

An  Impoirtant  Biraneh  of 
Hat'duJare. 

We  can  supply  any  number  of  full  Kits  of  the  best  tools  man- 
ufactured. Many  tools  are  necessary  articles  in  every  family, 
occasions  to  use  them  being  of  almost  daily  occurrence. 

The  superior  quality  of  our  tools  is  universally  recognized. 
Carpenters  and  joiners  are  unanimous  in  praising  them.  All  our 
hardware  is  spoken  of  in  a  similar  strain.  We  make  a  point  of 
carrying  nothing  but  the  best  goods  in  every  line,  and  our_  prices 
are  the  lowest  at  which  the  best  goods  can^be  sold.  ^^£2^^ 


^        r>        llll'        T     X^tah*s  Greatest 


Department  Store 


]HR.TH0PSDHY  GOODS  GO. 

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